Long time Virginian, born in Conn. Have been skiing in this area for years.

Enjoy the site and all it offers.

I am particularly interested in getting suggestions on doing a trip out west next year. My family and I are "blue collar" skiers, i.e. like most of you all we can't afford to stay at first class luxury accommodations and seek to find bargains whereever we can to make skiing more affordable so we can afford to do it more often!

What would be a good forum to post a request for tips/suggestions on organizing a ski trip to the rockies (Utah/Colo, or perhaps other spots)?

Welcome AJF. Check out the DCSKI Q&A section. See comments about fave places to ski outside local area. Some of my distant trip choices are determined by catching a good airfare, esp if I'm bringing all or good part of my family of six with me. All things being equal, it is hard to beat SLC for price and convenience once on the ground, esp if you stay in SLC suburbs and commute to affordable places like Alta, Brighton, etc.
Lots of fine choices in CO, which this winter featured some of the best fares from our local airports to Denver. Some folks find relative bargains staying at Breckenridge, Copper, Winter Park. Sometimes there are good fares to northern CA too. Lots of cheap motels very close to Heavenly in South Lake Tahoe, and some around north end of Lake Tahoe too or find bargains commuting from Reno. Travel early or late, of course, will also offer good prices. This was a very fun trip, despite a tight family budget:
http://66.117.34.52/articles/view_article.php?article_id=281&mode=headlines

If you hang around these forums as the next season approaches, you'll pick up on a lot of bargains being offered . These folks know how to put it together and most have been around the block enough to warn you of potential pitfalls in planning a trip be it to the west or Europe. Another way of doing it is to check into what some of the area ski clubs offer for trips.

Thanks, Jim! That's exactly the kind of response I was hoping for.

Welcome! Long time Virginian born in NH here.

You'll find a lot of good information here both about trips out West as well as people looking for trips. I am negotiating right now to buy a small condo in Whistler and I'd be happy to host a trip if it works out. United has cheap flights out there and while the dollar doesnt go as far as it used to, it can be a very cheap trip if you want it to be. By negotiating of course I mean with my wife and at this point I've been on the losing end of most arguments.