Replying to US Resorts

What are some good resorts in america which have good terrain, and good nightlife, and where the lifts and stuff go up from town, and not too expensive. And yes i've tried searching. Im thinking somewhere like snowbird/Alta, vail, mammoth but don't really know much about any of them. It needs to have a lot of snowfall as coming from NZ i dont get the chance to ski a lot of powder. I probably want somewhere reasonably big so it has a good party atmosphere/night life.