Started skiing at 15, switched to snowboarding at 18.
15 years later, I'm still snowboarding as much as I can. Looking forward to getting my daughter out soon.
Back to the original question - favorite places:
I spent a week heliskiing (Heliboarding??) at Tyax lodge in British Columbia, about 4 hrs. from Whistler. Best trip of my life.
Aside from that, Whistler / Blackcomb is definitely at the top of my list. Some others I really like, in no particular order:
Squaw Valley
Breckenridge
Arapahoe Basin
Mt. Tremblant - great village, park the truck in a heated garage, and never see it again until you leave.
Stratton Mt.
Killington, if not only for the nightlife and size.

snowbaord

We were at both Breckenridge and Jackson Hole last year. JH was so disappointing. We hit it in early March
unfortunately they had about 4 ft of snow the week before we got there, then they had a dust storm that blew in from Idaho. When we arrived the temps had dropped into the 50's or 60's with blazing sun. The snow turned into the worst rocky mt cement I have ever seen plus the mountain was covered in patches of dust which componded the problem. It was definitely not the best skiing. However the night life was pretty good, we loved the million dollar saloon, but the long bus ride to the mt. each morning sucked.

I raced in College, and teached at Sugarbush in VT, now we just ski either at Stowe or Sugarbush.

GLH
I'm with you, two great spots to ski and stay. Started going there in the early 70's and always go back.
Whistler is great but you are at the mercy of the weather.

Whistler/Blackcomb are deffinetly the shiz!
Been there several times, Last run of the day from the top to the bottom will kill you! It's not uncommon for them to get inches per hour days, on end, so there is always lots of fresh powder! Deffenetly 4 stars!
The clubs are fun, oh yeah, lots of shopping too!

http://www.whistler-blackcomb.com/

I have snowboarded all over the east coast and my favorite on the east coast, depending on weather which is a problem a lot, would have to be White Face, NY. Only been to the west coast one time. I was in Salt lake City Utah, Snowbird was by far my favorite in the area. If you really want a challenge and dont need all of the frills go there, park city and the canyons have better resort life but not even close as far as terrain. I want to go to Jackson Hole or Whistler this year.

Utah is awesome, best powder I ever skied was a few months before the Olympics at the Canyons and in Snow Basin. Snow Basin is great (near Ogden) it used to be a small local spot until it was recently developed for the Olympics (it's operated by the family that owns Sun Valley).
Driving from one mt to the next can be a pain and the
weird drinking laws are a hassle but the snow makes up for it all.

Bridger Bowl is awesome. A buddy of mine went to school in Bozeman.
As for Taos, you can guess what a snowboarder's opinion is on one of the last remaining resorts to not allow snowboarding.

Breckinridge but we are going to Snowmass this year. Dave