definitely not less hippies, just less trustafarian hippies.  definitely more cowboys though.
CSU is further from skiing but an awesome place to go to school and live.  i transferred as an upper classman so i don't often hear about parties, but it has a great music scene, great bar scene, great backcountry skiing access (Cameron Pass and Rocky Mtn National Park), is an hour from Denver and Boulder, and has a lot less of the NJ guidos and the SoCal Bros that have helped to ruin the atmosphere of BROulder.  Oh, and out-of-staters all go to CU, be a little different and meet some new people at a new school.  Whenever I go down to Boulder, it's like a HS reunion and I'm from the Bay Area.