<p>It depends on what you mean by a top school. Here's a quick rundown on some states, schools, and the skiiing.</p>
<p>Washington: The best regarded school in the state is probably Whitman. It's within 5 hours of day skiing in the Cascades, but those areas are small, the snow is wet, and the lodging is spartan, at best. The best skiing in Washington, I believe, is at Crystal Mountain, and from the direction, it may be more than five hours. I think there are a number of Idaho areas within that distance, however, including Schweitzer, Silver Mountain, Brundage, and Bogus Basin. I'm guessing that Sun Valley may be just on the edge of five hours, but I don't know.</p>
<p>If you want to consider the University of Washington, then Crystal Mountain plus the small areas are an easy drive. The small areas on I90, in fact, have night skiing, so it's very possible to head up after the school day. But the vertical on these areas is rarely more than 900 feet, so it's not the best skiing in the world.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it's about 4.5 hours to Whistler/Blackcomb north of Vancouver, BC. Those mountains are simply fabulous. Sometimes, there's little or no snow at the bottom, but that really doesn't matter. Each mountain has at least a mile of vertical! I'm not kidding.</p>
<p>Oregon: Reed is within distance of Mt. Hood but, once again, skiiing in both Washington and Oregon is pretty primitive. Still, you can get up pretty high on Hood, so the snow is a bit better than in Washington.</p>
<p>California: The Claremont Colleges are probably about five hours or so from Mammoth. Obviously, Berkeley should be within five hours of Tahoe, and Stanford, though across the Bay, comes close.</p>
<p>Colorado: The only school in this state that most would consider "top" (other than the Air Force Academy) is Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Certainly, the Summit County resorts (Breckenridge, Loveland Pass, Keystone, Copper Mountain) are within five hours, as well as Winter Park which is a bit closer. You might even be within five hours of Telluride and Gunnison, though I'm not sure about that. If the University of Colorado qualifies, it is also within five hours of the Summit resorts and Winter Park, plus (probably) Vail and Beaver Creek.</p>
<p>New England: I'm not completely sure about this, but I think that just about every place in New England is within five hours of some resort, somewhere.</p>
<p>Utah: I'm not sure you'd agree that any of the schools there are top, but if that doesn't matter to you so much, ANY school in the Salt Lake area or suburbs would be within very easy reach of some fabulous skiing.</p>
<p>Idaho: See Utah, but the skiing isn't quite as good.</p>
<p>Montana and Wyoming: Big Mountain, Big Sky, and (of course) Jackson Hole are good to great resorts, but I don't think they're really near much of anything.</p>