When deciding where to go to get that education (assuming you choose that path), it’s a tough decision. Do you go as close to the snow as possible? Of course! Here’s a rundown of five viable candidates to fulfill your desire to shred while still fulfilling your your brain:
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UNR is of course your first choice (as I myself am a full time student). With Rose a mere 35 minutes away and the rest of Tahoe only a touch further, it is an excellent choice for the skiing motivated individual. Add in the low price point per unit (UNR is one of the cheapest schools in the nation), casinos within 200 yards of campus, and cheap ‘n’ dirty housing options and you have yourself a winning combo.
Assuming you can handle the alarming number of Mormons and the startling lack of good beer, Utah is a skiers paradise. Between Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood Canyon, there is enough terrain to keep one busy for a lifetime. Host of the Freeskiing World Tour championships and big name pros such as Sage Cattabriga-Alosa calling it home is a testament to the wealth of goods you’ll be able to find in the Salt Lake area.
Montana State is certainly not a school for the faint of heart. The gals resemble more a troop of Tundra Wookies and the guys are hard lookin’, mean muggin’ mountain men. But Tundra Wookies aside, going to MSU opens the doors to some of the bigger skiing in the lower 48, with rowdy terrain available in almost every direction, so long as you are willing to make the drive to go get it.
While it’s a bit of a trek to get to the closest skiing, UBC is hands down one of the best locations to get both the college experience and the opportunity to shred at least 3 days a week. Vancouver is a lively city and Whistler/Blackcomb is an even livelier mountain. Throw in some of the best mountain biking in the world and you have a winner.
The Pacific Northwest is one of those areas that often falls off my radar, but resorts such as Crystal Mountain and Baker (both averaging over 500 inches a year) maintain a core view that still treats skiing as a service industry – the job is to get skiers up the mountain. Forget about upscale corporate management and fancy new bells and whistles, this is where skiers go. And U-Dub puts you right in the middle of it all.
In the end there is a plethora of options out there, from UVM, where a startling number of alumni make it to Tahoe shredding ice like nobodies business, to Boulder, a school more noted for the party scene than the school or ski scene. So what’s it going to be? Where are you going to/did you choose to ski and school??
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