Winter tire suggestions?

So I was up in vermont skiing this past weekend and conditions got a bit nasty Saturday night on the drive from killington to mount snow. Took out some traffic cones sliding on ice before even making it out of the parking lot and then lost control a couple more times on some back roads that hadn't seen plows/sand/salt yet. Rolling on 33x12.5x15 Mud Claw MT's.

Anyone have any snow tire recommendations? I do a lot of skiing and good snow performance is pretty critical. I'm contemplating picking up a used set of wheels/tires like these http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/for/4207529228.html though pretty much any size I can find used will look pretty silly with 6.5" of lift, then again a lifted jeep in the ditch looks pretty silly too lol. Heard good things about the Duratrac AT's but I'm not sure if they're going to be good enough. All of the true snow tires seem to come in metric sizes and i's making it hard for me to find reasonably sized tires. Also considering getting studded tires for extra grip on ice, but I've never had any before so no experience there.

Snow tires usually have a softer compound of rubber and have alot of sipes.
THOSE 17 INCH RIMS WILL NOT FIT AS THEY HAVE A LARGER BOLT PATTERN THAN YOUR JEEP.
285/75/16's STUDDED, 33/10.50/15

(603) 854-2011 hooksett NH, guy on CL might have what you want

Thanks Mark! You always have the info.

285/75R16 looks like a good size, there are at least some snow tire options.

I'm looking at these: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Winterforce+LT&partnum=875R6WFLT&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes and these: http://nh.craigslist.org/ptd/4198852788.html right now. Only downside to the craigslist guy is Hooksett is a bit on the far side. What I would love to get though is the Nokian Happekeliita LT2's, supposedly the best snow tires you can get, but they're $250 a piece unmounted which adds up fast.

Trying to find wheels on the cheap, probably cl some liberty wheels? ( http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/pts/4155932782.html ) Looks like the lug pattern is correct, though they do have more backspacing. I am running 2" spacers though so it looks like they'd be fine.

Oh yeah, heres what this past weekend did to the jeep.. Don't worry I've already washed er, though I have to say that the automated wash in Beverly kinda blows, I still need to get more salt off.

Those wheels won't fit either.
You need 5x4.5 lug pattern from a YJ all the way up to TJ wrangler to 2006, grand cherokee up to 98? or XJ/ MJ all years.
Most of the 16 inch factory wheels out there will not fit,,unless they are TJ Rubicon factory wheels.
You can also use Ford Ranger/explorer 2 or 4 wheel drive rims with same pattern, You might even find some 16 inch Ford RIMS THAT FIT YOUR LUG PATTERN.
There is a CL ad from a guy in Newburyport that has 4 -15 inch factory steel wheels all painted with bedliner for 75 dollars.
Have you looked into Continental tires.

I looked at a couple sites saying the liberty wheels were 5x4.5.

http://www.jeep4x4center.com/knowledge-base/jeep-wheel-specifications.htm

15"ers are easy to find but all the winter tires I've found are 16"+

I meant to say COMMANDER was the one that won't fit.

I think I'm just gonna go for a set of BFG Duratracs, 33x12.5, keep my current wheels and get rid of these MT's. Then again, 5 duratracs mounted and balanced run for just about the same as 4 dedicated snow tires and a set of steelies. Decisions decisions.. Wasting too much time trying to decide and stomach the price =/

Procrastination = Wait long enough and winter will be no more than a distant memory, 

My Duratracs never left me wanting for anymore traction no matter how bad the roads were plowed or not.

That's what I've read, always good to hear more first hand experience though.

Mark, the goal is not to have the jeep be a memory.. I swear to god the tires I'm running right now make the jeep the worst car I've ever driven in the snow. It's too ironic.

Shaun has first hand experience of the how the Duratracs perform, that's a positive review for the tires, maybe run with them, they are nice tires.
From what I have seen, they self clean really well in the snow.
Although, studded tires would be awesome but I guess you can't have everything.