My number 1 choice school I'm applying to is UBC... of course the proximity and quality of Skiing and Mountain Biking are the deciding factors in schools I'm applying to. I want to go to as good a school as I can get into, however, I refuse to go east of the rockies or further than 1-1.5 hours away from the nearest skiing. I'm also keeping MTB in mind.
The ONLY exception to that rule is UC Santa Cruz, because it's close enough to home I could drive to meet my parents and have them drive me up to tahoe, which puts about 2 hours of driving on me, not 5. As long as I can sleep part of the 5 hours, I'm ok... plus SC has sick MTB and surfing, which I greatly enjoy.