Where to go from Florida?

Dear all,
I am currently in Florida and would like to plan a ski trip with my partner. Flights to Vermont are around $500.00 and I can get to Vancouver for around the same price, which is too expensive. I was thinking of driving to Gatlinburg, TN or, perhaps, a resort in NC. Could someone advise on the best place within driving distance from Florida?

To give some information about my ideal requirements:

I have been skiing for 10 years and have visited both the West and East of Canada, the French Alps and I'm an advanced skiier. My partner has never skiied before, so we would like to go somewhere that has a selection expert and beginner runs (ideally...).

I don't particularly like crowds and hate the thought of waiting in a 2 hour line in order to get on the slopes.

Finally, it would be good if the resort had other things to offer, such as snow tubing, in case my partner does not like skiing. I know these are ideals, especially since the likelyhood is 100% snowmaking in the region I'm looking at. Any help/advice would much appreciated!!

Many thanks in advance,
Simon

Can you get a flight to SLC?

FTR AA go via Dallas

How about Chile? Fly to Santiago, and the resorts are about 90 mins out.

I wanted to try and get there this summer, but work got in the way.

I wanted to try and go there next summer but cost got in the way :shock:

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, flying is out of the question at the moment. I can't really afford it - really a long weekend within driving range of North West Florida is all I can do. I heard TN and NC are do-able, although obviously not as good as the suggestions made so far. Let me know if you have any experiance of skiing in those states.
Best,
Simon