<p>I've grown up snowboarding in the mountains in Norcal (Tahoe) and I'd hate to leave that whole lifestyle behind. Does anyone have any good reccomendations for a top university near (under 5 hour drive) good skiing?</p>
<p>Middlebury College. My friend told me that in Febuary they have this special graduation ceremony for the students that entered in feb. (they have this special thing where you can take a gap semester), and all the graduees ski down the slopes at the end.
Oh it's in Vermont, by the way.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Middlebury are the only 2 colleges in the U.S. that own their own ski mountains.</p>
<p><a href="http://skiway.dartmouth.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://skiway.dartmouth.edu/</a></p>
<p>The Dartmouth skiway is kind of small, but it has the advantage of being about 20 minutes from campus. There are also many larger mountains within a few hour's drive.</p>
<p>University of Colorado: Boulder
University of Vermont</p>
<p>Not sure of the driving times, but if you want to stay west and closer to California, my son who skis looked at the University of California Santa Barbara, University of Montana, Albertson in Idaho and Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. In Colorado there are many from 1/2 to 2 hours of skiing, it would depend on how selective or not selective you wanted for a college/university. He didn't even consider New Mexico so I can't comment, but of course there's a few schools within driving distance of Taos.</p>
<p>I don't know about it really being a top university, but nothing can beat the University of Utah in easy and amazing ski/snowbaord access. You've got Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, and Solitude a little under 20 minutes away. While Park City, Deer Valley, and Canyons is a quick half an hour up the Canyon. And no offense to east coasters, but the Rocky Mountain snow and terrain are unbeatble to anything beyond Colorado.</p>
<p>Some of the colleges i'm looking at are UCLA, Dartmouth, Harvard, swarthmore, and Rice (fat chance for this one). Does anyone know the quality or distance to mountains from any of theses schools??</p>
<p>Also, I know for UCLA that there;s snowbowl and Big bear pretty close. Does anyone know how good these mountains are?? I've been to mammoth but that's like a 6+ hour drive from LA</p>
<p>
[quote]
Dartmouth and Middlebury are the only 2 colleges in the U.S. that own their own ski mountains.
[/quote]
A third New England school, Williams, formerly had one as well. Williams skiiers now use Jiminy Peak, about 15 miles away.</p>
<p>Dartmouth - Dartmouth Skiway 20 minutes away - owned by the college
<a href="http://skiway.dartmouth.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://skiway.dartmouth.edu/</a></p>
<p>Dartmouth is a little less than a one hour drive to Killington the largest Ski Area in the Northeast <a href="http://www.killington.com/about_us.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.killington.com/about_us.html</a></p>
<p>Dartmouth College sits in Hanover, bordering Vermont with many additional excellent ski areas within 60 to 90 minutes - such as Stowe and Okemo</p>
<p>why not nevada reno or UC Davis, Wyoming, University of British Columbia...trust me on this, having grown up in Cali and skiing and going to school back east. Stay West! Killington (sp?) is about the only mountain back east that can compare with anything in Cali or the Rockies. If heli and free skiing are your thing, try U of Alaska Fairbanks.</p>
<p>peace!
Cornellgrad</p>
<p>Big Bear sucks...hit mammoth if your down south, it's worth the extra distance</p>
<p>oh...and the snow sucks back east...if racing and slick surfaces are your thing, then go for it. If you want super light powder up to your waist, well, you know where to go.</p>
<p>"Stay West! Killington (sp?) is about the only mountain back east that can compare with anything in Cali or the Rockies."</p>
<p>HAHAHAHA nice call.</p>
<p>anyone suggest Colorado College yet? Great liberal arts school (#27 for 2006 I believe) and obviously in Colorado, so near some awesome skiing. I'll be applying.</p>
<p>do you disagree?</p>
<p>Absolutely I disagree. Off the top of my head, mountains that provide a better "out west" skiing experience than Killington.</p>
<p>Jay Peak
Stowe
Mad River Glen
Saddleback
Sugarloaf</p>
<p>Killington for the most part is a mountain comprised of straight down the fall line, nondescript, boulevard trails for the masses. Their tree skiing is lacking, and they have no backcountry access. Also, they get less snow than Jay and Stowe, and about the same as MRG.</p>
<p>And for those willing to hike for their turns, Mount Washington and Tuckerman Ravine.</p>
<p>The U Dub has Snoqualmie Pass close by. Mt Baker, White Pass, Crystal Mountain and Stevens a little further...</p>
<p>Check out Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe. There are a lot of sick resorts right there and the school has some cool programs.</p>