And to help you in a more tangible search...

The Internet has brought us so many wonderful things. Thankfully, it has not ruined our journey down the snow-capped peaks, but in many ways, it has helped. Nope, I'm not talking about surfing the web on your iPhone on the chairlift. Hell, I think if I saw someone doing that, I'd really want to throw them off the chairlift, but I digress. The think I am alluding to has to do with two neat sections of many mountain websites - the interactive trail and conditions maps! I love 'em!
Okay, an http://www.skiheavenly.com/mountain/trail_map/ isn't gonna help all that much while your skiing or riding unless you've got something like that iPhone with you and believe you me, I'm not the only one that would want to give you a heave-ho. It is quite neat to be able to look at one of the maps before heading out on a trip to a new resort and choosing some areas you want to ski or ride. Sure, you may still want to have one of the hand-held - I feel like such a tourist - versions, but only for quick reference. They're such a pain to fold. So go to the website of the mountain you plan to conquer and map out a plan of attack. Most will let you select different sections of the resort and even zoom in and out. Pretty cool! Not only will it give you a better sense of where you want to ski, but it will help you avoid the areas you don't want to ski. Tres important!
As for the interactive conditions; they're not as widely used yet. There are a couple of reasons behind this, IMHO; first, they take more manpower. Someone has to update them to reflect what's going on and second, I would think they probably take a lot of server space. Nevertheless, I like to check out Sunday River's conditions map before each day. I get to see where snow was made (using a variety of time frames), what's been groomed, perhaps more importantly - what hasn't been groomed, where snow is going to be made, what trails are open, and what lifts are open. You combine this with your interactive trail map and you can skip the lodge, customer service, and all those things that are great on vacations, but not necessary when you're just out to rip it up. Have fun!