More big-mountain skiing

This is hard to quantify exactly but as a rule of thumb, any mountain with

2,000-plus skiable acres and more than

100 trails should qualify, which includes several dozen major resorts.

But these five are massive in the same way Whistler/Blackcomb is and easily offer all the skiing you could want from your vacation:

❚ Park City, Utah: An amalgam of two existing resorts, the hybrid now spans more than 7,400 acres, has 330 trails – and gets some of the world’s best snow. ❚ Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming: Jackson has the nation’s highest vertical and sports 133 trails and more than 2,500 acres inbounds – plus an adjacent 3,000 more in lift-served backcountry, open to better skiers. ❚ Big Sky, Montana: Another combination of two existing resorts, Big Sky now sports more than 5,850 acres and about 250 runs serviced by three dozen lifts. ❚ Heavenly, California/Nevada: The largest single resort in the popular Lake Tahoe region, Heavenly spans 4,630 acres and nearly 100 trails, showcasing diverse terrain.

❚ Vail, Colorado: In many years the most popular resort in the United States, Vail also is the largest singlemountain ski area – you can be 5 miles from the base and still be skiing the same peak. It has 5,289 acres – more than half of which is in open bowls – and just shy of 200 trails.