Waldo's Comments & Rebuttal of Bagel

General: here are some links to trail maps:

(Telluride is one of the most readable online trailmaps I've seen,
while Snowmass is one of the worst)

http://www.telluride.com/useful/trailmap.asp

http://durangomountainresort.com/assets/images/winter/trailmap/flash.htm

http://www.bigskyresort.com/ontheslopes/bs_ch_ots_map.asp

http://www.big-mountain.com/?a=content/trailmaps

http://dyn.onthesnow.com/ski/trailmaps/25.html

http://dyn.onthesnow.com/ski/trailmaps/406.html

My comments:

After a very quick look at the maps and even quicker look at some
online reviews, my ranking is the exact opposite of Bagels:

1. Telluride / Purgatory
   
2. Big Sky/ Big Mountain
   
3. Aspen/Snowmass
   

Telluride seems like it will be uncrowded, have plenty of snow, and
have good weather. The trail map shows plenty of green and blue
trails. It looks like Purgatory is a couple hours away, so it might
make sense to split up the trip like we did last year.

Big Sky/Big Mountain looks similar to Telluride, but with more
questionable weather.

Aspen looks like it's famous for things other than skiing, although it
probably has the best nightlife of the three. It also has the
advantage of two mountains close together, so we wouldn't need a
travelling day and logistics would be easier.

--Waldo