Replying to Bang for Buck what are the best places to go skiing in North America?

I am trying to decide where to go skiing at, and also how to keep my budget in line. 2 ski trips for winter out west, one from dec-26th to jan 3rd (SL,UT), and a second at an undecided location from Feb 27th till March 8th.

Back to the topic at hand really, where would you go skiing at if you had to factor in the hotels, flying, etc? I am trying to keep these trips down in cost and I can't pimp it slope side with the low dough. So where would you guys like spending a week or more if you were coming out to the mountains?

Oh yeah Im really considering whistler...if I can get this trip down to under $3000 for 2 people round trip with everything.