I have not been for years, but used to ski the Laurentiens norht of Montreal a lot.
One of my favourite things that I looked forward to each winter was a week skiing in Utah (far less crouded than Vail). Snowbird and Alta were my favourites. Stayed in Salt Lake City, which was nice and quiet (except one year they had March Madness there and it was crazy) and used to take the shuttle buses up to the ski resorts and back every day.
I still love it, but retired years ago.