Ski College???

Mistah.FluFF

Mistah.FluFF

Member
I already applied to Utah and Boulder but i know there's so much more out there. I live in the Wisconsin so I don't really have a lot of personal info on where to go out west.

I just want some legit opinions

If you're in college this could be a chance to represent sooooooo lemme hear it!
 
I go to Montana State and I have been super stoked on it. The resorts here are sick and the backcountry is 100x sicker. If you want easily accessibility and a lack of crowds, nowhere beats MT.
 
As far as CO goes:

-Boulder is a dope town but not very close to the mountains. Denver is a bit easier and I believe slightly closer (straight shot down I-70). I lived there for two years and went to RMCAD (weird little art school) Couple big colleges there too - DU, Metro State (VERY CHEAP AND DECENT!), CU Denver. Regardless Denver, Boulder, and FoCo colleges are filled with skiers and snowboarders so finding rides isn't hard. Not to mention CU, CSU, and DU are all very good schools with very competitive academic programs. it's just a bit of a drive and with literally one crappy highway to take you to summit from the valley it can take 2, 3, 4+ hours sometimes to get to the mountains on weekends. It backs up like a motherfucker and when there's bad weather or crappy roads (aka most of the time) it can be a bitch. You usually have to leave really early to beat the 8-11am rush of people on the road. If you want to ski a lot and not just on weekends maybe think elsewhere. CO is a very awesome place though, great vibes, cheap passes, and you can ski 5 mountains with the same pass too. If you like park, it's awesome (breck and keystone, self explanitory). Powder/BC not so much in summit county. You have to venture further for that.

-CMC kind of sucks. Knew/know a lot of people that go or went there and dropped out or hated it. Credits don't really transfer (unless you do a real major) but you can be in a position to where you're only a few minutes away from skiing. If you're serious about school, might not be the best option. CMC is basically a community college with a little more expensive tuition and housing options.

-U of U from what I heard is dope. It's in SLC too which is 30-45 minutes away from PCMR. Didn't live there too much so I don't have that much to say about it.

-Then there's VT. Don't know if you're into the east coast but Burlington, VT is a DOPE little college town. There's UVM and Champlain....I know there's more but honestly I forget what they are. UVM is a very good academic type school and Champlain is more of an artsy small school. I'm moving there to finish up my degree in January at Champlain. It's a little town right on lake champlain that's basically all college kids and basically all skiers/snowboarders (from what I've experienced). You're 45 minutes away from Stowe and Sugarbush, Jay Peak and Smugglers Notch are within an hour. You're also not to far from Killington too which usually is one of the first resorts to open in the US. Conditions won't really compare to the west but when it's a good day, it's a good day. you still get ice, not too much sunshine, and bitter cold but the trees are good and the parks are pretty decent as well. VT definitely holds it's own.

 
Thanks man that was insanely helpful. I heard about VT and all its wonders so that is def going to be in the back of my mind. I would still have to say that I prefer skiing out west though.

I guess we'll just have to see where i get accepted to.

mucho +k for you sir
 
University of British Columbia:

Consistently rated as one the top 40 schools in the world.

Epic outdoors stuff (Whistler)

Cheaper than most out of state tuitions

Check it out.
 
22nd as of this year!

Whistler is awesome, ski and board club parties harder than anyone on campus (including the frats, not even kidding), local hills = night skiing after class, Varsity Outdoors Club = people organizing backcountry trips pretty much every weekend, epic mountain biking one bus transfer away, nude beach 5 minutes from first-year residences, drinking age is 19, pot is decriminalized... and on top of all that, it's an excellent school with a butt ton of classes to choose from.

list goes on.
 
there is literally a thread on this topic once a week.... anywho, here's where I applied. they have a good balance of skiing and rigor in my desired subject (Mech Engineer):

Gonzaga

U Portland

Montana State

Utah

and I'm gonna try and transfer or go to grad school at UW. I didn't apply to boulder because I feel there's literally too much partying and for the price, you might as well go to a private school and get a better education. There's a lot of other good schools that are close to skiing, but those were the ones that offered good engineering programs (except for MSU).
 
I've heard Montana State is one of the best schools for skiing in the country. I've heard they have a 10 inch rule, where some professors let you leave class if there's more than 10 inches of snow outside. One of my buddys applied there and convinced me to as well. I'm trying to schedule a visit at some point to check out the campus and the snow.

If you can afford Boulder, that's a pretty good choice also. Personally, my top choice is in Arizona, which is a pretty far trip from any decent skiing. But I'm willing to take weekend trips to places, or take weeks off at a time to go visit friends at MSU or Colorado. Hopefully I'll still be able to get some good amount of skiing in each season... otherwise I might find myself transferring somewhere closer to the mountains.
 
DU is sweet because you´re pretty close to the mountains and you still get a big city feel, if thats what youre looking for. the drive can be bad, yes, but as long as you plan to leave before the rush, it wont take you more than an hour and half.
 
going to school out of the country can be pretty difficult financially for US students. I looked into going to school in BC. tuition is much cheaper but it's the student visa that can be very expensive. with a student visa, you are not allowed to work in the country (legally), the only way you can get a job is if you are receiving credits from your school for said job (i.e. internship, etc.). since you're not allowed to legally work, you have to prove to canada that you have enough money (in the form of a bank account balance) to COMPLETELY support you in EVERYTHING (food, housing, etc.) for your entire stay there during school. that means you need a lot of money in the bank. if your parents can swing that then it'd be fucking awesome, but for someone that needs to take out loans and work through school to pay for non-tuition expenses it can be next to impossible unless you can somehow get your hands on about 10 grand. I've never went through with it or tried but that's what I got out of researching it.
 
With a student visa you're allowed to get an on campus job, either through the school or a private business that is based on campus.

 
Its not that bad compared to going to somewhere like CU Boulder. The visa only costs $125, and I think you can prove that you can support yourself with a loan. Like Jaimee said above, international students can work anywhere on campus, and I know many kids from the US who have gotten work permits. They made it seem very easy. Furthermore, although things are expensive here, everybody I know who has a job gets paid way more than I get in the US. Lastly, the tuition is not that much higher than many schools in-state tuition for me (pennsylvania).
 
does everyone take buses up to the resorts?? its not like my parents are going tolet me takea car out west for college
 
University of Denver. Great, but pricey school. We've always had a great ski team with great individual performers. Not sure if that is what you are looking for when you are asking for a "ski college."

Plus, it is easier to get up to the major resorts from Denver than Boulder because it is a straight shot up I-70 from Denver, whereas you have to go a little bit out of your way from Boulder before you hit I-70. Good thing about Boulder is that Eldora is nearby, but that's about it...
 
Fort Lewis College in Durango,CO

Awesome place, I have already been skiing for a little over a month already
 
university of oregon cascades campus, is pretty sweet its a 15min bus ride to Mt Bachelor

& bends a fun city.

100 miles south of hood in the summertime

 
How hard is it to get into UBC? The admission rate is like 44% or something, but I have no idea what that actually means. I will have something like a 3.8 weighted with a few AP classes and not too much extra-curricular stuff. Should I even bother applying?
 
western state is sick.i went to CU for 3 years and definately got tired of the commute after a while. Not to mention most people choose to get really drunk on the weekends (not a bad thing) which can be a pain in the ass when depending on others for rides. otherwise its super fun (maybe too much).

as far as Western state goes, its small (about 2500), 30 minutes from Crested Butte, there are tons of kids who are REALLY stoked on skiing, and they have a good business program. They have a really cool program that organizes outdoor adventures nearly every weekend called Wilderness Pursuits, you can get credits for taking avy classes, and there is a lot better sense of community. If your looking for a typical college town/city feel it might not be for you but if your looking for quality skiing and a decent school its worth looking into. however there are not nearly as many options for majors. crested butte has the best backcountry access in colorado except for maybe the san juans. if you like mtn biking, watersports (we have the largest lake in CO), cliff jumping, climbing etc in the off season this place is a mecca.

i couldnt be happier with my decision to transfer from CU to Western State, both from a skier standpoint and an academic one. i got tired of the scene in summit county and was tired of skiing thru hoards of retarded weekend warriors from the front range on shitty terrain (excluding the parks).

oh yeah, ive also skied every month but september when i was just too busy.

hope that helps

 
regardless it all just seems like a hassle with lots of unnecessary expenses along the road. to have to deal with that twice a year for 4 years seems almost excessive. don't get me wrong living in a place like BC would be fucking sick, but finding a good school in the US with good skiing can be just as fun and a hell of a lot easier. not to mention if and when shit hits the fan it's always good to be on US soil and somewhat closer to home. me personally I'd rather just go and live out in canada for a few months, maybe get a work visa and work at a resort for a semester off over choosing to do my whole schooling over there.

another thing to look into when finding schools - see if they have abroad campuses in cool skiing areas. really easy way to get out of the country for a semester. studying abroad is a lot different than going to school in a different country, essentially you pay the same tuition/housing rates to your school and in return they set everything up for you in another country, even hook it up with a work study job sometimes. you can do abroad within the school if they have campuses or at another school they're affiliated with. when I went to RMCAD in denver I knew a few people that did a semester abroad at emily carr in vancouver and they all said it was fucking awesome.
 
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