Hey Caleb,
After 10 years in Vail and all that great powder, my old ski buddy asked me to come to Washington to ski. I thought he was nuts.., but went anyway.
He was city manager of Spokane, and the first place he took me was Mt Spokane. It was amazingly great skiing. And way, way cheaper than Vail.
Then every day we would hit a different place, usually no more than a 2-hour drive -- Canadian Rockies, Idaho, etc.
I was really impressed.
Washington seems to have a lot of everything.
Rick