Just how much snow are you talking about?
We have the GT and we got a couple of inches of snow here over the holidays. Since it's not really a winter climate, people are lousy about clearing their sidewalks, so it was messy around here for a week or so until things melted again.
The GT wheels did just fine in those messy snowy, then slushy and icy conditions. BJ calls them "forever air," and they are a different type of wheel than what's on the regular City Mini. They roll really well on soft, uneven terrain. We also take it on all types of terrain -- gravel, lawns, hard-packed sand on beach ... it does just fine. To be sure, I wouldn't push the stroller into a saturated muddy mess, but I probably wouldn't want to take the Elite into those conditions either.
We have a dog that needs his daily walks, so there was no opting out of taking the stroller out in those conditions.
I also considered the Elite but a) couldn't find one in a local showroom and didn't want to buy something I couldn't look at in person, and b) I thought the 12" wheels would be a bit too much for in and out of the car as well as in and out of the house. We've got 5 tall, uneven steps up to our front door and not much storage space. Plus, we don't down a car, and when we do Zipcar we tend to get a small hatchback, so I figured the 8" wheels would be much more manageable for us.