I agree - in the 80s I liked Vail but I was comparing it to the east coast. Vail's bowls seems lame compared to Utah or Mammoth.
Ok, I said something nice about Park City. Now, about the others... Vail: Foreigners in fur lined $5000 powder suits 2-sizes too small Aspen: Every rich liberal asshole in the country owns a home here Whistler: Just nasty, everything designed to take your money Jackson Hole: nothing is uglier than a wyoming town in winter Telluride: for fags, snowboarders and the academically challenged Deer Valley: the last place left where you can ski at top speed Sun Valley: Hemmingway had it right Taos: every gay gallery owner in Santa Fe has moved there Mammoth: lol
How could I forget to mention Tahoe! Crappy skiing in a beautiful lake town full of the most dunderheaded liberal plastic cheese-sucking wheezebags I have ever encountered. Its generally acknowledged among skiers in california that you must leave the state to find good skiing and good people. California just plain sucks.
Then just ski over to the Nevada side.... What about Squaw Valley? Also I wonder what the OP plans to do in July-August?
Aspen is one of the best places in world as long you have the money to maintain your lifestyle. I met my girl there 20 years ago. It's a very fun place. There are locals places there are the tourist places. It take several years of a local interaction to find out which is which.