Deirdre Hamilton is no fan of snow or cold. She doesn’t like heights either. Yet every winter she vacations at a ski resort. “My kids and my husband ski,” said Hamilton, who lives in

Northern California. “I gave it a try--I even took lessons--but I just don’t like skiing. It’s too cold.” That’s not to say that Hamilton twiddles her thumbs, getting bored and grumpy in a

crowded ski lodge. She doesn’t. She stays busy gambling near Lake Tahoe or getting a massage at Snowbird in Utah. “I want to have fun too,” she said. These days, that’s easy to accomplish

almost anywhere the family wants to ski, said Laura Sutherland who researched the matter for her newest book, “The Best Family Ski Vacations in North America” (St. Martin’s Griffin, $15.95).

who spent last winter touring ski resorts with her two children. “The resorts are doing more and more.” There are health clubs, full-service spas and indoor water slides (try the Avon,

Colo., recreation center), boutiques, outlet malls and art galleries, ice skating, sleigh and snowmobile rides, dog sledding and snowshoeing, even hot air balloon trips, ice climbing, plays,

dance performances and art classes. There’s maple sugaring and antiquing in Vermont, gallery-hopping in Aspen and Santa Fe, and the chance to explore ancient Native American cultures in

Southern Colorado and Taos. There are opportunities to soak in hot springs in Steamboat Springs, Colo., or to tour an old silver mine in Park City, Utah; to enjoy a leisurely country

breakfast or ride a horse-drawn sleigh to dinner in the woods. You can take Artist in the Mountains classes at Vermont’s Smuggler’s Notch resort (call [800] 451-8752) or gamble all night

near Lake Tahoe ski areas (call Heavenly ski resort, which spans Nevada and California at [800] 2-Heaven). Take a luge ride in Park City at the new Winter Sports Park, site of some of the

2002 Olympic events ([800] 222-PARK). Go bobsled riding at Whiteface Mountain Ski Area at Lake Placid, N.Y., home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics ([800] 44PLACID). Or attend a concert at

Beaver Creek’s new Vilar Center for the Arts in Colorado. (Call Beaver Creek at [800] 243-8053.) Tubing--riding an inner tube down a snow-covered chute or hill--is especially hot this

season, and more than 30 ski areas around the country will introduce snow tubing, according to the National Ski Areas Assn. An added plus: Snow tubing usually costs less than $20 for several

hours. “Kids are used to lots of different activities, and they’re pushing their parents to do different things,” says John Alderson, who develops and oversees family programs for Vail and

Beaver Creek. Consider Vail’s year-old Adventure Ridge at the top of Vail Mountain, where kids and parents alike can tube, snowboard, ice skate, snowshoe or even play laser tag. (Call Vail

at [800] 278-2372.) “People these days want an all-around winter vacation experience,” said Judy Daniels, a spokesman for Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort in California. Daniels notes that the

most popular offering at Northstar is an “Introduction to Skiing or Snowboarding” package that enables someone to rent equipment, get a lesson and try the sport for $50, roughly the cost of

a lift ticket. (Call [800] GO-NORTH.) Ski resorts report, though, that even die-hard skiers and snowboarders now want time to do other things besides just ski. Stephanie Bass would rather

cross-country ski, hit the local health club or relax in front of the fire while her family is out on the slopes. “There are always plenty of other nonskiers floating around too,” she said.

Most important, said Deirdre Hamilton, pick a ski area that has plenty for nonskiers. “You’ve got to be a little selfish,” she said. “It’s your vacation too.” * Taking the Kids appears the

first and third week of every month. MORE TO READ