By Deborah Giattina

IT'S ALMOST WINTER . And you might think that means you'll be sitting on the couch like a sack of potatoes for the next five months, waiting for the earth to tilt back toward the sun. Come spring, however, you may regret all those wasted hours. Use your imagination and you'll find there's a world of sports and recreation in and around the Bay Area. By land, sea, sky, or pet, you will be having fun this winter. Here are 10 easy and not-so-easy ways to do so.

Snowshoeing

When it comes to skiing the slopes, there's only one way to go: down. Snowshoeing, however, allows you to weave through the trees and carve your own trail. The sport's recent rise in popularity owes partly to maverick snowboarders who snowshoe up backcountry trails in search of wild rides. Nowadays, snowshoes look like miniature skis with spiked bottoms; choose narrow ones for running and wide ones for taking it slow. Then head for some high altitudes to start your adventure. Mount Rose, the highest peak in Tahoe, is rife with trails and snowmobile routes, and rentals ($10-$19) can be found at most sporting goods stores in the area. Mount Rose, Hwy. 431, after Diamond Peak Resort, Incline Village, Nev. Incline Village Visitor's Center, 969 Tahoe Blvd., Incline Village, (775) 832-1606.

Ice fishing

Before refrigerators, ice fishing was a nutritional necessity. Now it's hard to say what provokes folks to lug their tackle and augers across an untrustworthy slab of ice in subzero temperatures. For some, it seems, the need to fish simply does not subside when the mercury drops. And so, fish they must. Prosser, Boca, and Stampede, a cluster of reservoirs near Truckee, offer suitable spots. Up in northern Nevada, at the edge of the Rockies, Wildhorse Reservoir is solid enough to drive a Winnebago across and stocked to the gills with German brown trout and yellow perch. A license will cost you about $12, and you'll spend about $35 on gear. Wildhorse Reservoir, open daily, 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Dunn's Wildhorse Resort, HC 31, Box 214, Elko, Nev. (775) 758-6472. Around Truckee, rent tackle and buy a license and a map at Mountain Hardware, 11320 Donner Pass Road, Truckee. (530) 587-4844. Tahoe National Forest, Truckee Ranger District: (530) 587-3558.

Bird-watching

When it comes to bird-watching, a bird in the hand is not necessarily worth two in the bush. Still, it's pretty neat to see the California seashore's winter residents within petting reach, especially when there's no charge for the experience. The Point Reyes area offers plenty of bird-watching opportunities. While heron and egret home Audubon Canyon Ranch is closed for the winter, the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, next to Bolinas on the southern tip of Point Reyes National Seashore, casts nets on Wednesdays and weekends during winter months for six hours, starting at sunrise, and gently bands the day's catch. Visitors are welcome to observe the fowl before the lab sets them loose. Common sightings include the black-belted varied thrush and the tiny yellow-and-black Townsend's warbler. To enjoy winter bird-watching without a net, head to dune-encamped Abbotts Lagoon, on the northern point of the National Seashore, where you can catch sight of the endangered snowy plover and a plenitude of other breeds. Point Reyes Bird Observatory, Palomarin Field Station. For directions call (415) 868-0655 or go to www.prbo.org. For more information on Point Reyes National Seashore go to www.nps.gov/pore/home.htm.

Coastal sports

Short days and harsh winds make poor beach-party conditions, but only during the winter can you see the entire population of gray whales make their trek south from the Bering Sea to Baja. The cold months are also the best time to get better acquainted with the coast-hugging critters that winter's low tides reveal. To spend your days in shallow basins of water with sea anemones, brilliant orange batstars, and poison-spitting red octopuses, get a bed at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, 50 miles south of San Francisco, or the spectacularly situated Montara Lighthouse, just 12 miles down the coast from the city, both available for less than $20 a night. And don't forget: the quarantine on mussels ended on Halloween. If you tire of inspecting tide pools and gazing at the ocean's infinite blue, you have at least a couple of options. You could try getting in. The six- to eight-foot swells rolling into Santa Cruz's beaches are far less mellow than the summer waves – an ideal opportunity for experienced surfers to test their skill. (For another under-$20 option, reserve a bed a couple of weeks in advance at the Santa Cruz Hostel Carmelita Cottages, just two blocks from the Santa Cruz boardwalk.) Or you could roam through Butano State Park, six miles east of Montara, where 2,200 acres of redwood-filled canyon await. Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, 210 Pigeon Point, off Hwy. 1, Pescadero. (650) 879-0633, www.pigeonpointlighthouse.org/hostel.htm#Rate. Montara Lighthouse, 16th St. and Hwy. 1, Montara. (650) 728-7177, bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/Visitor/Access/montara.html. Santa Cruz Hostel Carmelita Cottages, 321 Main, Santa Cruz. (831) 423-8304, www.hi-santacruz.org. Butano State Park, off Hwy. 1 along the San Mateo County coast. (650) 879-2040.

Snow camping

To catch another side of alpine nature, one that doesn't include hordes of other hikers, haul your tent up a snowcapped glacier. You can have a white Christmas in California and get one step closer to an attempt on Mt. Everest. Yosemite National Park's Glacier Point is accessible in winter via the Muir Pass. The Trinity Alps, near Mount Shasta, are also great for camping in the snow. Go to the Weaverville Ranger's Station first, and bring a guide or an experienced hiker, as trails are not in season. Once again, snowshoes come in handy. Yosemite National Park, www.yosemitepark.com/html/contactus.asp. Weaverville Ranger's Station, 210 Main, off Hwy. 299, Weaverville, (530) 623-2121.

Ice-skating

Ice-skating is winter's answer to the pool party. Pop music blares. Boys and girls flirt and pair off. Much to everyone's amusement, someone inevitably tries to show off a Brian Boitano move and takes a spill. And this can be your Friday and Saturday night all winter long. A longtime East Bay option is Berkeley Iceland. And in addition to the Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink, the seasonal rink erected in Justin Herman Plaza every November, San Francisco finally has a genuine Olympic-size rink in Yerba Buena Gardens for your year-round use. Try taking a lesson. If you're good enough, maybe you can join the Tremors, the Bay Area's synchronized skate team. Nov. 22 marks a San Francisco tradition at the Kristi Yamaguchi rink. The mayor and local celebs gather at 4 p.m. for the Embarcadero Center lighting ceremony, in which the 17,000 lights that outline the four towers are illuminated, inciting massive amounts of holiday shopping. Berkeley Iceland, 2727 Milvia, Berk. (510) 843-8800, www.berkeleyiceland.com. Yerba Buena Ice Skating Center, 750 Folsom, S.F. (415) 777-3727, www.skatebowl.com. Nov. 13, 2002-Jan. 5, 2003, (closed Nov. 20-21), Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink, Justin Herman Plaza, Embarcadero Center, S.F. (415) 956-2688.

League sports

We live in a town where you can play for any team you want– or even more than one. City leagues offer a gamut of competitive sports, most of which carry on during the winter months. Here are just a few options. San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department allows you to start your own team for about $20 to $30 a person (kids free). Contact the Kezar athletic office to find out where you can play volleyball, soccer, tennis, or basketball. The department offers free programs for physically disabled people. Blind and deaf children can play soccer and basketball via Project Insight in the Sunset, and a program for mentally and physically challenged adults and children that mixes arts and sports operates out of Jackson Playground in Potrero Hill (transit provided). Private organizations such as the Golden Gate Sport and Social Club have reserved fields throughout the city and organize teams for restaurants, companies, and groups of friends for anywhere from $450 to $700 a team. The San Francisco Winter Softball League charges $450 a team and provides all the equipment. Recreation Center for the Handicapped, near the zoo, works with physically challenged children and adults in a gymnasium and swimming pool. Hiccup, organized by and for "queers, genderfucks, geeks, and freaks," might not exactly qualify as league sports, but how could we not include a group that encourages human log-rolling, wheelbarrow races, and wraslin', not to mention board games and basketball? San Francisco Recreation and Park Department: Kezar athletic office, (415) 753-7032, www.parks.sfgov.org/recpark/programs.htm; Project Insight, (415) 242-5200; Jackson Playground assisted recreation, (415) 554-8920. Golden Gate Sport and Social Club: (415) 921-1161, www.ggsportandsocialclub.com. San Francisco Winter Softball League: (415) 552-1705, www.sfsoftball.com/winter/index.htm. Recreation Center for the Handicapped: (415) 665-4100. Hiccup: e-mail hiccup@kithology.com or go to www.kithology.com.

Stargazing

Orion, Taurus, and Cassiopeia rule the winter sky. Serious stargazers could point to them blindfolded. Those are the types gearing up for the March 24 Messier Marathon, the cosmos's equivalent to an Oscar ceremony. On that night competitive astronomers, usually as part of local amateur organizations, try to eyeball as many stars as they can, often boasting that they did so with their weakest telescope. Oakland's Chabot Space and Science Center holds some of the strongest telescopes available to civilians. Drop by on Friday and Saturday nights for a free viewing. Check out the planetarium show ($8.75, $6.50 youths), which will school you on the night's sky, before taking a gander at the real thing. Telescope viewing, November-March, Fri.-Sat., 7 p.m.-10 p.m.; April-October, dusk-11 p.m.; "The Sky Tonight" planetarium show, Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m., Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakl. (510) 336-7373, www.chabotspace.org. Astronomical Association of Northern California, www.aanc-astronomy.org.

Swimming

If you want to take winter sports to the ultimate level, try joining the Dolphin Club. Its year-round activities peak on New Year's Day with an "Alcatraz and Cove Swim." Yes, that's right, Alcatraz, the unswimmable. Actually, 600 swimmers made it last year. Polar bear clubs are definitely not for the weakhearted. You'll have to pass swim tests and be a club member ($432, $390 seniors) for six months before you can partake in the events. To join, show up at the board meetings (third Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m.). Dolphin Club, 502 Jefferson, Aquatic Park, S.F. (415) 441-9329, www.dolphinclub.org.

Dog sledding (sort of)

Winter fun is not just for humans. If your dog appeared unenthused by your last toss of the Kong, you might want to consider getting the pooch into something a little more challenging. Sled dogs, such as Siberian and Alaskan huskies, Alaskan malamutes, and Samoyeds can be trained to mush through the snow. Try contacting your breed's local rescue association to see if anyone in your area is training for the Iditarod, a dogsled race that travels 1,000 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. If that seems a little far-fetched for you and your collie, you could try skijoring or dog scootering. Skijoring involves training your dog to handle a harness attached to a belt via tug lines, while you learn to handle your dog on skis. But really you can be on bicycle, scooter, roller skates, or anything with wheels. With some tips from this helpful Ontario-based Web site, www3.sympatico.ca/liz.gary/skijor.html, you and your dog will soon be "skiing" through the city. Iditarod 2003: www.iditarod.com/03musher-web.html. San Francisco Samoyed Rescue: www.sfsr.org. Bay Area Siberian Husky: www.bayareasiberian.org. Northern California Sled Dog Rescue: www.norsled.org/info.html.