Today was the first snowfall of the season and it got me really excited for winter. Two of my favorite college students sent me pictures from their snowy campuses. I am working with a student this fall that wants to prioritize access to skiing. I have been meaning to repost the piece that I wrote last year about schools that are close to the slopes. The snow that fell today was just the inspiration that I needed. My piece is below. Feel free to chime in if you think there is a school I should add!
“The skiing cosmos is difficult to explain to anyone not immersed in it. The act of skiing differs from traditional sports in that…it requires specific orographic and meteorological phenomena. Because skiers depend on planetary forces much larger than themselves —and, like surfers, must work in harmony with them—a kind of otherworldly euphoria overtakes them when they do it well.”
—Porter Fox, DEEP: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow
Last spring I shared a piece from Time/Money on my Facebook page about colleges for students that like to ski. I posted it half-heartedly; the winter ski season and the college admissions season were both waning and it seemed like a good fit. I recently opened up the article and read through the schools that they listed and thought to myself, “Woah, this list will not do”.
I often have clients looking for colleges and access to skiing is on the top of their priority list. They are not necessarily looking for a ski team, but rather the ability to get to a good hill in less than an hour. The words that I read in David A. Rothman’s book, Living the Life: Tales from America’s Mountains and Ski Towns come to mind when I think about this type of student. Rothman writes about getting a season pass at a new mountain. He says, “At that moment…I could feel my little world tilt on it’s axis. I hadn’t bought a season’s pass at a new ski area in fifteen years…if you’re a skier—really a skier—shifting your allegiance from one hill to another is a big deal”.
And there are those words, really a skier, that made me decide I had to make a list of schools for the type of client that is really a skier. I don’t put myself in that category but I know plenty of people who qualify. Lots of college kids like to ski and can make do at a school that offers the opportunity to ski on the weekends or occasionally skip class and go during the week. The type of skier that I am talking about is the kid that is sitting in class on a Tuesday morning watching snow pile up and wants to be on the slopes in an hour or less. And this kid is committed to 50+ days a year, so this ski hill needs to keep them engaged. I am talking about someone who opens their season on their local WROD (White Ribbon of Death for the uninitiated) and ends at Killington in May (or any other fine ski center that stays open until Memorial Day), a skier that makes getting on the hill a priority above all else (besides academics, of course). If there is a mid-week dump, this kid wants to get to the hill ASAP; they are not waiting for the weekend. If you are trying to figure out where you can blend your ski passion and your education, this post is for you.
When clients come to me and say they want skiing access, there are fewer choices than you might think. My criteria are as follows: more than 1,000 students, an average SAT score of over 1,000 and less than one hour to a ski slope that will keep them engaged for the winter (I realize this is subjective) Here are a few that will work in no particular order. I put the college and the ski area that is within an hour. My list is just a start. I welcome your insights and comments on schools that I might have overlooked. Enjoy!
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The Vermont Schools, University of Vermont, St. Michaels College, Middlebury College, Champlain College, Norwich University. These schools are within 60 minutes of Sugarbush, Stowe, Smuggler’s Notch, Mad River Glen and Middlebury has it’s very own hill, called the Ski Bowl.
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The Denver Schools, Colorado School of Mines, Regis University, University of Colorado-Denver, University of Denver are within an hour or so of Eldora and/or Winter Park/Mary Jane
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Dartmouth College-Okemo/Skiway
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Williams-Mt. Snow
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SUNY Plattsburgh-Whiteface
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SUNY New Paltz-Hunter
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Bard-Hunter
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Western State Colorado University-Crested Butte
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Fort Lewis College-Telluride
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UC Boulder-Eldora
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University of Nevada Reno-Lake Tahoe Resorts
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Fort Lewis College-Purgatory
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The Utah Schools University of Utah & Westminster College, Snowbird/Alta/Solitude/Brighton/The Canyons/Park City/Deer Valley
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University of Montana-Montana Snowbowl
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Montana State University-Bridger Bowl
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Skidmore College-Gore Mountain