So You Wanna Be Shaun White

With football, baseball, basketball, and soccer, you can go just about anywhere. As long as there's enough space for a field, diamond, or court, there's a solid chance you can play one of those sports.

But what about winter sports? As much as it might be a shame to admit it, there aren't too many snow-capped mountains hovering around the University of Miami or Tulane University. So what can a poor boy do if he wants to ski, snowboard, or whatever else one does in the snow? (Note: College Rover was founded by Southerners and Californians, so we don't exactly know the territory.) For that, the options are a little bit more limited. Today, we're going to be looking at the country's best schools for winter sports.

Our Methodology

We'll keep this short and sweet: if the school's in a snowy place, has winter sports teams, or is nearby to some ski resorts, we're including it. Well, not all of them, but you get the idea. We didn't want to keep it narrowed down to "schools with the most competitive winter sports teams" or "schools closest to ski resorts," so we fashioned up a more diverse array of schools. Plus, we wanted to show the variety in types of schools that you can go to for winter sports (it ain't just snooty east coast Ivies, after all).

Anyway, here are a few of our picks for the best winter sports colleges in the country.

The List

The University of Vermont-Burlington, Burlington, VE

The whole idea for this article came from a wild stat we read about The University of Vermont-Burlington: there are no fewer than 5 ski resorts only an hour away from downtown Burlington. That's gotta be some kinda record, and if you love to ski, you're probably drooling right now. But wait, there's more! UV Burlington takes special pride in their cross-country skiing, which they advertise better than most: "And don't forget Bolton Valley's full-service nordic center with guided tours, lessons, and rental equipment," they say. "Finish your day there, grab a beer and catch some live music up in the lodge." I don't even ski, and I'm jealous.

Plus, with a 71% acceptance rate and decently affordable in-state tuition, The University of Vermont-Burlington makes for a fairly accessible option for all winter sports lovers.

Middlebury College, Middlebury, VE

Simply put, Vermont cannot stop winning! At least when it comes to skiing, of course, and Middlebury College (also famous for their top-shelf language programs) is no exception. Plenty of snowfall, nearby to plenty of resorts, sublime natural beauty, yada-yada-yada, you've heard it all before, folks. The real kicker is the Middlebury Snow Bowl, which is exactly what it sounds like or, uh, exactly what it sounds like if you know what a snow bowl is: Middlebury operates their very own ski resort (light on the resort part, though it may be) where students and the public (yup) at all levels of skill and experience can ski. 

A smaller private school, Middlebury College is quite a bit more selective than University of Vermont and a good bit more expensive (especially for University of Vermont's in-state students), but what did you expect? The school has its own ski resort. That's on you if you thought it would come cheap.

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College lives in the frigid north of New England (noticing a theme yet?), so of course, they do it right in the winter. Not only do they have undergraduate classes for winter snowsports (particularly useful for all the folks coming from sunnier climates), they also celebrate the Dartmouth Winter Carnival each year, which is as decadently and brilliantly Ivy League as it sounds. Massive snow sculptures, a polar plunge, and heaps of competitive winter sports events, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival is just about heaven for anyone in love with winter sports, and with 71 inches of snowfall annually, you'd be hard pressed to not find great skiing nearby even without the winter carnival.

It's an Ivy League, so get ready for a daunting stat: only a 9% acceptance rate means that if you want to experience that winter carnival, you better hit the books, but that's no different than any of the Ivies. 

Colorado Mountain College, Aspen, Glenwood Springs, and Steamboat Springs CO

We wanted to give some community colleges a spotlight, so we're looking at the Colorado Mountain College network. While New England might have some of the best skiing in the country, it's hard to think of a state as virtually synonymous with skiing as Colorado, and across multiple different campuses, Colorado Mountain College flexes their skiing bona fides. The Aspen campus is almost right next to the world-class Aspen Snowmass Ski Resort, and the Steamboat Springs campus is home to its very own men's and women's skiing teams, a pretty impressive feat for a little community college. 

And because it's a community college, it's open admission and as affordable an education as you can get, least relative to its competitors on this list. We're talking in-state tuition of only $2,340. 

University of Alaska-Anchorage, Anchorage, AK

Rounding out today's list of schools is the largest school in the University of Alaska system. While Alaska might not be the first place you think of for great skiing, it's certainly one of the first places you think of for lots of snow. The University of Alaska-Anchorage has a nationally competitive skiing team (go Sea Wolves!) with-as they rightfully boast-9 national championship victories and 171 All-Americans. With complete sincerity, it's hard to imagine a better place for competitive skiing, plus Alaska is just gorgeous. Even if you're not looking to compete, those snowy, mountainous landscapes are just about the most picturesque skiing locations in the world. 

Massive by Alaska standards with over 11,000 students, this school is also significantly more affordable than most of its counterparts here, with in-state tuition of $8,622 and out-of-state tuition of $25,228, which is still leagues more accessible than a school like Dartmouth or Middlebury. Plus, that 77% acceptance rate ain't half bad either…

How College Rover Can Help

You may like winter sports, but is that really how you're gonna pick where you go to school? We get it, it's important, but we also know that lots of things are important when making this decision. From tuition to size to location to sports teams to majors to minors to clubs to just about everything, there's a lot going into this. That's why at College Rover, we let you compare all of your top schools just on the metrics that matter most to you. So no matter what's important to you, we've got your back. Click that link and make this whole journey a lot simpler!