If you need to know about the snow, there’s a new free service that will get you the latest on where the best powder is around North America.

The reports are provided as text messages delivered to cell phones. To register, log on to www.skimag.com or www.skiingmag.com. Options for customizing your reports include new snow alerts, weekend forecasts, type of snow, base inches and percentage of snowmaking at any given resort.

More than 475 resorts in North America are participating in the service, which is a partnership between Mountain Sports Media, publisher of Ski and Skiing magazines and other snow sports information, and RubberSNOW.com, which distributes ski and snow reports to mobile phone users.

Adventure guide

What’s the best month to climb Mount Fuji? When is Antarctica accessible? Where can you go skiing in the summer?

For the answers to these and many other questions as you plan your journeys for 2005, consult the February issue of Men’s Journal. The magazine features an adventure travel planner, organized by month.

In February, you can watch migrating whales in Baja. March is a good time to catch bonefish in the Bahamas. Go whitewater rafting in April from Asheville, N.C., on the Nolichucky River. In May, take a tour of a Madagascar rain forest to glimpse lemurs.

Go skiing at Whistler in British Columbia in June, and in New Zealand in August; in between, in July, climb Mount Fuji.

September is a good time to mountain-bike the trails around the Nebraska National Forest. October is truffle season in Italy; in November the snow starts falling at some resorts in Colorado, and December is prime kite-surfing weather in the Dominican Republic – as well as the window of opportunity for those intent on visiting Antarctica.

And if you’re planning ahead to 2006 already, next January would be a good time to climb do some climbing in Red Rock Canyon, Nev.

Indian trails

If you’re interested in American Indian culture, consider attending a powwow or tribal cultural festival this year.

MotorHome magazine’s February issue lists 14 of them around the country, including the Circle of Hope Ozark Regional Intertribal PowWow in West Plains, Mo., planned for Feb. 25 to 26; the Chambers Farm Spring PowWow in Fort McCoy, Fla., scheduled for April 1 to 3; and the Gathering of Nations PowWow, in Albuquerque, N.M., April 28 to 30.

The magazine also recommends searching Web sites that list hundreds of other gatherings showcasing Indian culture, including www.powwow-power.com; www.whisperingwind.com; www.gatheringofnations.com; and www.indiancountry.com.