Best Colleges for Skiing?

http://www.sierranevada.edu/academics/business/ski-business-and-resort-management/
If he really likes to ski...

Johnnyonthespot wrote

http://www.sierranevada.edu/academics/business/ski-business-and-resort-management/
If he really likes to ski...

Can you say - "eggs in one basket"

Green mountain college has a ski management program also. The students live and work at Killington.

Given that I see the inside of the ski industry that is not the way I'd want my son to make (a really poor) living.  

The instate tuition option requires much more than property ownership. The link below can provide important information. States are updating their rules for residency all the time. This makes it difficult to plan for an 11 year-old

https://www.instateangels.com

Decided to dig this up.

I am in the midst of a string of college visits.  I visited RPI on 9/23 and will be visiting Union College, UVM, and SUNY Albany Columbus Day Weekend.  I also plan to visit Dartmouth and Middlebury this fall.  In Summer 2014, I visited Skidmore College and Williams College.

All of these would have decent ski options nearby.  Provided that I can have a car on or near campus all 4 years, I believe I could keep my ski days at a good level of at least 75.  The only colleges on this list that I know allow a car on campus all 4 years are Skidmore College and Dartmouth.  I know that RPI, Williams College, UVM, and SUNY Albany do not allow a car freshman year, however, RPI, UVM, and SUNY Albany are in an urban location meaning it would be possible to have one near campus during the year I can't have it on campus.  If there is no workaround to this issue, I would not be able to attend that school.

Here are how the options would work for each place I have already considered.

Skidmore:  Pass at West Mountain for quick afternoon or night trips.  Closest big mountain is Gore, but I'm not so keen on getting a pass there due to their mediocre snowmaking capability.  It's still a few years off, so maybe it will improve by the time I'd decide where to go.  Would probably end up at Killington if I didn't get a pass at Gore.

Williams:  Closest option is Jiminy Peak, so I'd get a pass there.  They have a ski club, so I'd join that and go wherever they went in addition to days at Jiminy Peak.

RPI:  Would probably go to Jiminy Peak for local trips and Mount Snow or Stratton for longer ones.

UVM:  Best skiing in that area is Stowe, so I'd get a pass there.  Not sure who has night skiing there, but I'd get a pass at any good mountain in the area that had it.

Dartmouth:  They have their own ski area which I'd make full use of.  I'd also probably get a pass at Killington for a change in scenery and a longer season.

Middlebury:  Same as Dartmouth

Union College:  Not sure if Jiminy or West Mountain is closer, but I'd get a pass at whichever one was closer.  Would also do longer full day trips to Windham, Hunter, Mount Snow, or Stratton.  Whichever one was closer.

SUNY Albany:  Likely the same as Union College.


Please note that I am only talking about the nearby ski options in this post.  I don't know much about the academics at any of the colleges yet and I'm not sure what I'm studying yet although it will likely be something in engineering.  I decided that was the better route over business/financial.

Based on your interest in mechanical things like ski lifts and obviously you are a smart young man let me suggest a few colleges that are excellent and not so hard on your Dad's wallet.
First of all RPI is an over priced Ivy league wanna-be, go to Cornell instead.
Dartmouth is a great school. WIlliams is a great school, but you will need to go to Graduate school afterwards. Expensive and you can go to Graduate school in technology from a lot of lower priced launch pads. UVM would be a great time and if you stayed clean, a good education at a reasonable price.
However, as a skier and smart technology minded student - I would choose Colorado School of Mines. A great deal right at the base of the Rockies. Join their ski team and have a blast, but your gonna work your ass off - it's not a party school. Anther option is Montana State in Bozeman.

PeeTex wrote

However, as a skier and smart technology minded student - I would choose Colorado School of Mines. A great deal right at the base of the Rockies. Join their ski team and have a blast, but your gonna work your ass off - it's not a party school. Anther option is Montana State in Bozeman.

Yea Sno do something like that. I'm sure the hard work part wouldn't bother an over achiever like you. With your love of skiing and your abundant interest in different ski areas, go for the full package, go somewhere you can ski your butt off.... absolutely gorge yourself for a few years.... You'll likely not have another chance again for decades, if ever.

Look at T Batt.   Doesn't take much imagination to realize he's been getting the goods big time these last two years. Chime in here Ted.

Middlebury doesn't have night skiing but they have a great program where you get credits for becoming a ski instructor at thier resort and then get paid to teach there.  I believe you even get more credits for getting Psia certified.

My best friends two daughter attended UVM.  Lots of students there night ski at Bolton Valley which is closest met to campus and sort of a student party spot at night.  There are lots of different cheap pass options for Vt students.  Smuggs and Jay both are very popular choices for the students.  

Peetex has some good advice.  I'd also check out Utah.

You are a smart kid but honestly expecting to ski 75 days seems like a stretch unless you have a pass and are just going to ski for an a couple hours for the execise.  Besides your studies there will be plenty of other demands on your time.  You better find a skiing girl friend which would increase your ski days.

Coach Z wrote

Middlebury doesn't have night skiing but they have a great program where you get credits for becoming a ski instructor at thier resort and then get paid to teach there.  I believe you even get more credits for getting Psia certified.

My best friends two daughter attended UVM.  Lots of students there night ski at Bolton Valley which is closest met to campus and sort of a student party spot at night.  There are lots of different cheap pass options for Vt students.  Smuggs and Jay both are very popular choices for the students.  

Peetex has some good advice.  I'd also check out Utah.

You are a smart kid but honestly expecting to ski 75 days seems like a stretch unless you have a pass and are just going to ski for an a couple hours for the execise.  Besides your studies there will be plenty of other demands on your time.  You better find a skiing girl friend which would increase your ski days.

I plan on getting a pass at whatever mountain is closest and may get something for a ski area further away so I can ski a bigger mountain for longer trips.  I did 83 days last season and that was with no drivers license.  This season I have a drivers license and I'm going for 100 days skiing 6 days out of the week for as long as Mountain Creek is open and both days each weekend when it isn't.

I think I could get 75 days in pretty easily, especially with a close by mountain with night skiing, or if I am able to get a class schedule that has my afternoons free if there is no night skiing.

As Mattchuck said earlier in the thread he went to Colby College which has a 4-1-4 schedule for the year.  Williams College has the same thing.  However, they don't allow you to keep a car on campus freshman year and they're out in the middle of nowhere, so there's no easy workaround to that issue.  I also think that getting accepted there is a long shot.

Skidmore has no engineering program, but they do have a 5 year program in which you study engineering at Dartmouth for either one or two years (I'm not positive about it).  I'm pretty sure I could get into Skidmore, and once you're in, the acceptance rate for this program is 90%.  Both have easy access to skiing, and you can keep a car on campus all 4 years which simplifies things greatly.

Of the places I've listed so far, UVM and SUNY Albany will be the easiest for me to get into and I can't really see a scenario where I wouldn't get into them.  Skidmore, RPI, and Union College are not as easy to get into as the previous ones, but it should be doable for me.  Getting into Williams College, Dartmouth, or Middlebury will probably be a long shot for me.  I may have a chance of getting in, but it is by no means guaranteed.

One thing to consider regarding night skiing is that generally the closer you get to real mountains, the worse your night skiing options are going to be. Ironically, you will probably find night skiing is one of the few things that Mountain Creek has going for it compared to better ski areas.

For UVM, Bolton has night skiing but there are only two top to bottom routes, I imagine Bolton night skiing is mostly about the park and the college social scene. One important consideration is that it is damn frigging cold in the mountains at night during the winter. There are going to be many nights that skiing fast at night isn't going to be fun. Cochran's is another UVM option but is pretty small and mostly focused on racing.

For Dartmouth, Whaleback (not open every night) is nearby and Pat's Peak is within an hour. Not sure about your NY selections but I really can't imagine choosing any of your schools based on night skiing. Middlebury doesn't really have any good nearby night skiing options that I can think of.

I wouldn't rule out colleges because of first year car rules, particularly if those institutions have ski clubs. You'll also may find that you prefer doing things on campus with your friends rather than skiing sometimes. I know it is hard to imagine but I know that from experience. I picked a college because it had a ski racing program and then I stopped skiing my first two years of college because other things became more important to me.

Not saying you shouldn't pick a college based on primary factors but do so with the understanding that you don't know where the future will take you and basing a big decision primarily on freshman year ski options may not be the best criteria for such an important decision.

I talked about this earlier in the thread, but pay attention to the schedule of the colleges you apply to. The place I went, Colby College, has a 4-1-4 schedule, which means 4 classes in fall, 1 in January, and 4 in the sprng. 1 two-day-a-week class in January was great for skiing the other 5 days. Also, when you go on tours, ask how long their breaks are. Some of my friends were off Thanksgiving through New Years, some weren't given much time at all. See how long spring break is, too. I took some good ski trips with college buddies over that period (Fernie was sweet).

Agree with Rivercoil that night skiing up here is different in one major way than night skiing in Jersey: it's fucking cold. Really cold.

I skied the Middlebury college snow bowl this past winter and was VERY impressed with their off map glade network. I know you're not into that (yet), but I highly recommend a ski trip there to sample the goods.

I never said I was going to rule out all colleges with 1st year car restrictions.  I said that I would rule those out with no workaround to that.  UVM is in Burlington, and there is likely a private parking lot or garage close by where one can get a parking permit by the month.  I wouldn't need a car outside of ski season, so the cost wouldn't be all that crazy.  If there is a ski club at the school I go to, I'm joining it, but I ski way more days than ANY of them will ever go.  They might do 15 trips in a year and that's just 1/5th of the 75 days I'm trying to put in.  I don't see that changing at all.  I've skied hard every season since 03-04.  My passion for skiing is something that WILL NOT BE CHANGING FOR ANY REASON UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

I agree with Matt At least on this topic

It is cold as hell in northern Ny and Vt at night

I believe you that you are committed to skiing.  I think we all really respect that about you.  I'll say it again from personal experience.  Girls will sidetrack that.  My wife loves to ski and we have made our life in the mountains because we are both on the same page.  There are going to girls like 95% of them that totally don't understand your love for skiing.  My bother married one of those and he now lives in Ohio.  Finding the right one is key for you.

^ Easy solutions for this one. Either find a girl who loves to ski, or find one okay with you skiing all the time. I did both in college. The ones who loved skiing were there bright and early with me on Saturday mornings. And it was hard to leave the beds of the ones who didn't love skiing, but I did it anyway, because skiing.

Sno... you don't join a ski club primarily to go on big trips (you do go on those trips)... you join a ski club so you can make friends and find like minded people (perhaps other skiers with a car so you don't need to worry about the restriction)... folks that like to ski as much and the same type of skiing that you do. In college, you'll do whatever your friends do, whether they ski or not (I know you find that hard to believe, but I can all but guarantee that is fact for almost all college students).

If you make friends that ski, you'll ski. If you make friends that don't ski, you'll be tempted not to ski to be with your friends. The people you surround yourself with will be more important than the actual thing you do with them. So if you want to ski, I think the best thing you can do is go to a college that has an outdoors culture with clubs oriented towards those activities and a large enough student body that you can make friends with folks that have a similar passion for skiing that you do.

I specifically requested a roommate that was a skier my freshmen year and they matched me with another guy who specifically requested a skier.  And luckily, he had a car. Got about 45 days in at Sugarloaf that year and another 15-20 at home (could've been more).

Personally I think you should emphasize quality over quantity of skiing. Like it or not, you'll probably be spending more weekday nights holed up in the library than skiing.

I'd put a much bigger premium on being relatively close to high quality options such as Stowe rather than having night skiing nearby. IMO night skiing is fun to do every once in a while with friends but gets old after a while.

Also don't forget that you'll have skiing for the whole rest of your life, but college only lasts four years. I'm not saying skiing shouldn't factor into the equation (it certainly did for me) but make sure you pick a college that you'll be happy at for reasons other than skiing. For the record I'm a senior in college now.

Quantity or quality?  I say why not have both.  If I have a decent place for night skiing close by, I can do the almost daily trips I'm used to.  If I'm within striking distance of a larger mountain I also have quality covered.  UVM's location has both.  Bolton Valley for quantity, and Stowe for quality with a capital q (since it wipes the floor with everything within a 50 mile radius).

you vastly underestimate the amount of work you will have, especially if you go into the hard science area. are you going to college to ski or for school? your parents are going to be spending a lot of money gambling/investing in your future. schooling comes first.