I absolutely love it. Everyone is cool, the town is awesome and Mont Ripley is right across the canal which is like a five minute drive, and its completely free! Plus when its not open you can hike it and use any jib that you want as long as you put it back. I set up a couple rails for myself and had a pretty nice setup all to myself.
Its only 45 minutes away from Mount Bohemia which has incredible backcountry skiing with everything from trees to cliffs and pillow lines.
Its a great place to go to school if you love skiing. I was really busy with exams this week and couldn't make it out to the hill but I still already have 12 days this season.
We already have over 50+ inches of snow on the ground and it hasn't stopped snowing (rated 3rd snowiest city in America). The area is really cool lots of cliffs and old mines to explore.
There are a lot of skiers and snowboarders who attend MTU so its really easy to find cool guys to hangout with and get rides to the hill.
Theres also a lot of stuff to do before the snow falls especially if you like the outdoors. We have a sick set of MTB trails which include a slalom course, jump line, pump track, and technical stuff to.
As far as school goes it's really great for engineering, most people have contracts signed before they graduate. I don't really know a whole lot about the business school but i here its really good. They don't have a Ski Area Management Program but there are lots of ways you can get experience. Mont Ripley is run almost exclusively by students so you could be a liftey, work in the rental shop, or be a part of the park crew. You can also take classes from Ski Patrol Certification and get certified as a level one PSIA ski instructor. I'm taking the Ski Patrol Certification class next semester so I can get a job as a patroller at the hill and possibly move out west for a couple years and work at a big time resort.
If you are serious about getting a degree in Ski Area Management I'd check out Goegebic Community College I know they have a 2 year program that has all hands on experience at a resort in Iron Mountain, Michigan. If you want a business degree with a specialty of Ski Area Management you can try Northern Michigan University in Marquette which is only 2 hours away from MTU and they have their own hill as well. I've met several people out west who work out at big time resorts who got that degree from NMU.
That's pretty much it, MTU is a great school and I'm sure you'd love it. Hope this helps dude.
