which TC is best for me?

Only you will make a decision on which TC is best. I don't know what your pain threshold is. Do you have an claustrophobic tendencies? Are you able to easily go up and down the snowy steps and climb the big steps to the sleeping area? These are real questions that could be answered easily by knowing your age.
My first thought was to just go with Poole's answer and get a DRW 5500 and a big 'ol TC. The problem is it would be a big package to haul around for the other 98% of the time when you don't need it. Having tried to sleep 4 children and 3 adults in my tiny Lance 165-s just for one night, was a nightmare. There was no floorspace left. You simply could not move. The kids thought it was an indoor jungle jim. You couldn't even open the bathroom door, which any male over 65 knows is VERY important. Here:

Even with 3 slides, the floorspace doesn't seem to expand, only the eating, sitting and sleeping space. Entertaining 4 adults in any white box could be fun for about 2 hours, enough to have a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter's night, remove your ski boots, and tell a few lies. Then, where do those skis, jackets and ski paraphasia go when you are not using them and it's 18 deg. F out in a light snow?

Then the outside of the box started to appear. I'm in the use only what you need with some overage school. Each outing has a different set of requirements for efficient success, and you don't want to be hauling everything around all the time. This leads me to a shamelessly biased 3-part solution.
1. a short bed SRW quad cab, crewcab or DoKa: (something with a comfy seating capacity for 4 adults) 250 or 2500 4WD diesel pickup; the highest payload version with further upgrade all weather tires and suspension.
2. a Lance 650 TC made for a short bed.*
3. a short, compact, wide track, weather proof aluminum enclosed trailer long enough for ski racks and storage inside.
*Why the Lance? Relatively light weight. Works on a short bed. Narrow. 4 season. Aluminum frame. Euro style 2x pane windows. block foam insulation. Larger tanks than short bed TC's had before. lots of headroom. Large dinette for eating converting to a sleeping area for 2 very narrow consenting adults. And my conclusion: built for the short haul. A weekender. I hope not a weak ender. Sounds like a ski vacation for a working stiff to me.
With this set up you will enjoy the mpg and tight turning radius of a short bed SRW pickup, especially when unloaded. Yes, that TC will only be on there a small percentage of the time. You will only be pushing the limits of payload maybe 3% of the time.
Maybe not a TC.
If this does not do it for you, a distant second would be to buy a used, well insulated, 22-24 foot class C MoHo and buy a set of tire chains that will get you to and from the slopes. I see ski bunnies in this version a lot. Then again, what are you going to do with it the other 97% of the time you're not using it?
MB now has a version of their Sprinter with 4WD. They come in a lot of configs. Several aftermarket RV up-fitters have taken the base to new heights with very livable MoHoes. Now we're talking bucks. These are the new rage with moneyed skiers.
It's your call.
jefe

Bedlam wrote:

fpoole wrote:
Like I said, I started with (considering) the 1500 and got so fed up with the "Well, it'll probably be ok, but you might want to have....." due to weight/stability/sagging... that I just said screw it and went with the 5500 cab chassis and put a bed on it.

So far?
It's working great. Mileage sucks, 8.6 with trailer, 9.6 just camper and 10 to 11.5 just truck... without a load on it, it'll knock your teeth out on a rough road, but with a load works fine.

My 5500 gets 8-10 mpg while towing my enclosed trailer (I always get better mileage traveling east) and 10-12 mpg with just the camper (just returned from central OR and WA with 10.5 mpg). It rarely gets used unloaded for any distance to give you unloaded mileage. I'm driving 55-65 mph with my 4.44 gears to get this mileage - What gear ratio did you choose on your truck and how fast are you driving?

Hmmm... interesting, thanks Bedlam...
I'm sure the speed I was driving at factored in, on the 80mph stretches I run around 70+ and on 70mph I run around 67... Usually a few miles below the posted speed just to keep it lower.. top speed is 87, so I need a little wiggle room to pass if needed.

I have gotten a 9.6 towing probably/obviously at slower speeds. In a 65mph I peg it usually around 63-mph and of course better mileage...
I did try to get readings at various speeds, like 55-60-65 but forget what they were.. Nothing that really stood out as an "..OMG, I need to keep it at xx-mph:

Rear gearing is the 4.10 so it should be better... but? heheh, I've recently come out of some hills and grades, Colorado/UT/NV/OR so it's mixed.

I think I just figure apx 9.6 towing, 10.6 camper only and that varies..11.5-12.5 unloaded. It varies higher/lower, but that's about what I figure.

I don't really track it that well other than resetting the MPG gauge on each real fill up, 72-gal.. or close to it.

Suffice it to say, it's not 18mpg.. heheh and whatever it is, won't keep me from moving around, just anecdotal to know...

I don't think the "OP" would not choose the right truck based on MPG it gets, although a factor, bottom line, "You pay to play"..

Fun...

fpoole wrote:
Like I said, I started with (considering) the 1500 and got so fed up with the "Well, it'll probably be ok, but you might want to have....." due to weight/stability/sagging... that I just said screw it and went with the 5500 cab chassis and put a bed on it.

So far?
It's working great. Mileage sucks, 8.6 with trailer, 9.6 just camper and 10 to 11.5 just truck... without a load on it, it'll knock your teeth out on a rough road, but with a load works fine.

My 5500 gets 8-10 mpg while towing my enclosed trailer (I always get better mileage traveling east) and 10-12 mpg with just the camper (just returned from central OR and WA with 10.5 mpg). It rarely gets used unloaded for any distance to give you unloaded mileage. I'm driving 55-65 mph with my 4.44 gears to get this mileage - What gear ratio did you choose on your truck and how fast are you driving?

Unless you have a dinette and couch, having 4 people inside the camper gets cramped after any length of time. If it is only for sleeping, it can be done but the people sleeping on the dinette get a shorter bed.

You should be able carry most single slide 10' models on a well equipped SRW. The double slide models will exceed your rear wheel ratings and require a 19.5" upgrade plus some additional suspension help. If you are thinking about larger campers, you need the DRW for the additional payload.

Not everyone needs tons of floor space.
The 4 of us (2 adults, 2 teens bigger than mom) lived and slept (one on bunk, one on dinette) in a non-slide, 12' TC for 5 weeks. No problem...of course we are all related, don't need all that privacy, and weren't carrying a bunch of bulky ski equipment.

Hmmm...we regularly host 4 people for ski weekends in Our single slide SB camper.

50 gals fresh...25/25 waste, 6v batts, solar...

Not sure why others find this a challenge...we call it fun!

Your spacial limitations will be the 4 adults in winter condition.
You obviously know how big TCs are, my consideration would be a long enough dinette to sleep 2 adults snuggled up but long enough to stretch legs.
With that, you're looking at the 9.5-10' single slide units, IMO. They don't weigh much more than comparable 8.5' campers with a slide.

For a truck, none of the heavier campers will be within ALL of the limitations of a srw truck, not even my AF860. But I'm of the opinion that a newer long bed 1 ton will haul most single slide campers safely. May/will take some additional suspension help and you'll be at or over all factory LT rims weight ratings a bit. Rest of the truck components are heavy enough for sure.
Others opinions will vary up to needing a 45/5500 truck so that you can plop a big camper on it and it will haul the camper without any mods or squatting with big factor of safety on all components.

Our 11' TC puts my dually 1,600 pounds over the GVWR with the family loaded up and ready to camp. We're a family of 4, the two kids are 6 and 3 years old. We don't have enough room and I'll likely be selling the camper to get something larger.
4 adults in a camper that you can put on a SRW truck isn't my idea of a good idea.

I take my dually off road frequently, I've been doing it for 11 years. Not hard core rock crawling but rocks, ruts, mud, slopes, etc. It does just fine. I got a rock stuck between the tires exactly once. That was in my driveway.

You realize there are no facts about which TC is right for you -- only opinions.
My opinion is that no TC is big enough for 4 adults for longer than a short card game -- maybe dinner.
My opinion also is that a SRW truck is much better -- but that's because I often go way off road -- and don't try to take a monster TC.

Four people staying in a truck camper skiing is going to be quite the ordeal. Not enough room in my opinion. You have a lot of gear to store also. Four people with additional tents in warm weather is fine. I agree with the dual rear wheel as you apparently many times will be hauling 3 passengers and all there gear also. Thats probably more than a thousand pounds of payload capacity right there. We use to take our class C 27 footer skiing with 4 people and it worked out good. I would not want to do that in a TC. JMHO