Replying to Your vehicle of choice to get to the mountain

With most major resorts now days connected by well maintained and salted/sanded roads it is becoming less of a worry on how you are going to get to your destination. Most people can make the trip in front wheel drive city geared cars with no problem in a short and economical way. But even with all these new fancy roads, there still are those windy dirt mountain roads that rarely see a plow truck during a storm.

Coming from Minnesota I am no stranger to snow and ice but considering our lack of mountains I have not dealt much with the vertical aspect of winter driving. Last year I took a trip out to western Wyoming to do some skiing at Jackson Hole and some snowmobiling at a friends lodge. While the drive to the lodge was rather uneventful and flat once I got to the point where it was time to go up a few thousand feet I started having troubles in my Pontiac Grand Prix. So my question is for those of you who live in a similar area, what do you use for a vehicle? Do you use studded tires/chains? Is it just that difficult to get to where your going or is it just me?