Sorry for not following up here, thanks again, all, for the feedback! (Was skiing the past 3 days
Tons of great advice and much appreciated. Lining the trunk; warmed boot bag; and I REALLY like the idea of a smoker back there -- makes me wonder, if one isn't enjoying their own cooked-on-the-fly pulled pork breakfast sammie on the ride up, is one even a serious skier?
Ha, a Chevy SS would be sweet and is of course the enthusiast choice, but I don't think i'm cool or hardcore enough to rock a RWD as my winter ski car. AWD would defo come in handy for the Vancouver-Whistler highway run, and I frankly wouldn't mind (sorry in advance...) a good automatic, e.g. the ZF-8 or similar. Looking more for a surefooted highway/foul weather cruiser than a canyon carver.
Frontrunners may be something like a used Charger AWD, Lexus GS350 awd, Hyundai Genesis 3.8 or, if I were feeling a little less fiscally prudent, a nice used A6 with that supercharged 3.0.