Accepted to CU Boulder!

[tdbaugha]

Hey fellas,

Last week I confirmed my intent to enroll at CU Boulder in their graduate aerospace engineering program. I grew up in downstate Michigan and will be finishing up my undergrad in the U.P. at Michigan Tech.

I know Boulder is sort of a hippy town but their program is top 10 in the nation and the only school with nearby riding. How far of a drive am I looking at to get to riding areas? I'm currently driving a '98 chevy 4.3l 2wd pickup which barely gets me around on the snowy, steep grades here in Houghton. Do I NEED to get a 4wd to get to riding areas in the winter? Obviously if I had the money it would be no question but I would also REALLY like to get a new sled this year. I'm currently riding a pretty well set up M7 but the way I ride the thing, it's getting pretty tired and worn out. I almost spend more time fixing what I break every weekend than I do riding it. I honestly feel like the 700 is holding me back as far as riding ability as well. On top of wanting/needing to buy a new vehicle/sled, I also plan on buying an AVY bag and probably a Tek-Vest because of my recent experiences with freak accidents so that cuts back being able to buy both the sled and truck.

I've been out west twice so far. Last year to Wolf Creek and the year before that to West Yellowstone.

Can't wait to get out there!

 

[Gmiller]

Sounds awesome!! I am originally from Wisconsin. Parents have a cottage on Pardee Lake in WI, Wakefield Mi is about 15min north of it, im sure you've heard of it. Anyways, when i first bought my 03 2500 Cummins, the t-case was shot, even with good tires, i had one hell of a time trying to get around BUT the cummins is one heavy azz engine and chances are you'll have your sled in the back to give you some more traction. I don't advise anyone up here traveling into the mtns to do it in a 2wd but i know some do. Lets put it this way i know what the hills are like in the UP and if you have trouble there, get a 4wd for here.... The avy bad is a good idea, but a beacon, probe and shovel are more important, and even more important is learning how to use a beacon and probe. Taking a avy class is your best bet, it will teach you the basics and as you go along, others will help out and you'll learn what to look out for and what to stay off of. Some sort of protection vests are always a good thing to have as well. There is alot of riding up the I-70 corridor and more northerly by boulder is a few great areas too. If you like riding in the UP, you'll love riding here!! Good luck, lets hope next season is really good!!

 

[tdbaugha]

Thanks. We have hills that re 50ft to 200ft vertical that are pretty steep and packed with hardwoods. Naturally technical tree riding is my favorite. I already have a beacon, probe, and shovel from going out west the past two years. I definitely should be taking a class though.

 

[Billygoat]

My roomate gets by with 2wd, but it does into some trouble on occasion. With the weight of the sled in the bed and some snow tires you will most likely be ok unless you come across an unplowed parking lot. I use a sled deck and most of the time have 1 sled on it and rarely even switch into 4wd.

 

[POLZIN]

Kind of a hippy town ? Ive heard it described as "10 square miles surrounded by reality"!

Being a grad. student youve most likley past the party days but if you get the itch boulder is a fun place to do it! in my younger days I had lots of fun there.

 

[tdbaugha]

Kind of a hippy town ? Ive heard it described as "10 square miles surrounded by reality"!

Being a grad. student youve most likley past the party days but if you get the itch boulder is a fun place to do it! in my younger days I had lots of fun there.

Hahaha is it really that bad? I visited there last Thanksgiving but didn't really stay long. I would say that I'm a non-typical student in that I spend the majority of my time snowmobiling and partying and not studying.

Depending on how everything works out financially I could even buy an older 4wd truck similar to mine and then finance a new sled.

 

[Billygoat]

Boulder is pretty bad...I grew up there and when time for college came around i didnt even apply to CU...went to Fort Collins and stayed. There are some cool people around, but they are heavily outnumbered by the boulderites!

 

[egesledder]

Former CU engineering student here, yes, the engineering school is good. I find the Boulder crazies to be more entertaining than anything, like a constant parade of the delusional. But, as Billy said, there are actually quite a few cool people around, especially if you are in the engineering school.

I'm living west of Boulder in the mountains right now, I think it was about a 15 minute drive to campus while I was going. You would definitely need 4wd living up here though, but there is great dirt biking, mountain biking, and the occasional rip around the yard on the sled. Its also possible I'll have a room for rent for basically all of next school year if you're interested.

Billy, we never went riding!! This season f^ing sucked

...oh, and I'm from northern Indiana, not too far away...

 

[backcountryislife]

Hahaha is it really that bad?

The only problem with Boulder... is that it's filled with Boulderites!

There's worse places to live for sure though... like any where east of Denver

 

[dtown]

Congrats! I got my EE from CU Boulder. I had tons of fun in Boulder for about 4 years, then I was ready to get the f- out. The trustafarians get a little old. The post grad school, still no job, still living on parents dime, living in North Boulder, riding a $5k bicycle 3 miles to Starbucks on Saturday morning to discuss how to solve the worlds problems are the ones that drove me nuts.

4 wheel drive is almost a must... or make friends with guys who have a 4 place and meet at the Morrison park and ride.

I have two 2009 XP800 163 for sale. Mine and wife's. Both have full warranty until November 2013. They prolly wont sell till the fall.

 

[POLZIN]

. I would say that I'm a non-typical student in that I spend the majority of my time snowmobiling and partying and not studying.

If your one of those guys who gets by without struggling I HATE YOU ALREADY

 

[tdbaugha]

Its also possible I'll have a room for rent for basically all of next school year if you're interested.

That would be AWESOME! When I visited there I put 1200 miles on the rental car just exploring the nearby mountains. The area you live in would be perfect!

One thing though, due to getting into a really bad accident this spring, I have to come back to MTU this fall to finish my undergrad. If that room would be available starting in Jan. 2013 then you should email me at tdbaugha@mtu.edu because I would be very interested.

If your one of those guys who gets by without struggling I HATE YOU ALREADY

Hopefully I can put forth the same effort at CU that I do here at Tech. I want to be riding every weekend.

Congrats! I got my EE from CU Boulder. I had tons of fun in Boulder for about 4 years, then I was ready to get the f- out. The trustafarians get a little old. The post grad school, still no job, still living on parents dime, living in North Boulder, riding a $5k bicycle 3 miles to Starbucks on Saturday morning to discuss how to solve the worlds problems are the ones that drove me nuts.

4 wheel drive is almost a must... or make friends with guys who have a 4 place and meet at the Morrison park and ride.

I have two 2009 XP800 163 for sale. Mine and wife's. Both have full warranty until November 2013. They prolly wont sell till the fall.

Yeah I can see that getting real old real quick. Liberals...

Figured I would want 4wd but it sounds like it's a must.

The only sleds I would consider buying would be a Pro or maybe a ProClimb if Cat would make some changes. Thanks though.

 

[Billygoat]

Former CU engineering student here, yes, the engineering school is good. I find the Boulder crazies to be more entertaining than anything, like a constant parade of the delusional. But, as Billy said, there are actually quite a few cool people around, especially if you are in the engineering school.

I'm living west of Boulder in the mountains right now, I think it was about a 15 minute drive to campus while I was going. You would definitely need 4wd living up here though, but there is great dirt biking, mountain biking, and the occasional rip around the yard on the sled. Its also possible I'll have a room for rent for basically all of next school year if you're interested.

Billy, we never went riding!! This season f^ing sucked
...oh, and I'm from northern Indiana, not too far away...

I know man! I tried meeting up with danny but didnt end up finding him and being that is was one of the few deep days this year i was already running on fumes by the time we got close to them. hopefully next year gets some good snow and we will get out riding.

 

[bushy]

2WD with good tires and 500 + pounds over the rear axle will get around pretty good. Get a set of chains for good measure. My old 72 GMC didn't have any problems...course it didn't weight 4 or 5 tons like todays pickups. lol

 

[Dogmeat]

Sounds awesome!! I am originally from Wisconsin. Parents have a cottage on Pardee Lake in WI, Wakefield Mi is about 15min north of it, im sure you've heard of it. Anyways, when i first bought my 03 2500 Cummins, the t-case was shot, even with good tires, i had one hell of a time trying to get around BUT the cummins is one heavy azz engine and chances are you'll have your sled in the back to give you some more traction. I don't advise anyone up here traveling into the mtns to do it in a 2wd but i know some do. Lets put it this way i know what the hills are like in the UP and if you have trouble there, get a 4wd for here.... The avy bad is a good idea, but a beacon, probe and shovel are more important, and even more important is learning how to use a beacon and probe. Taking a avy class is your best bet, it will teach you the basics and as you go along, others will help out and you'll learn what to look out for and what to stay off of. Some sort of protection vests are always a good thing to have as well. There is alot of riding up the I-70 corridor and more northerly by boulder is a few great areas too. If you like riding in the UP, you'll love riding here!! Good luck, lets hope next season is really good!!

if you're coming all the way out west to go to college why the F*CK would you pick a peice of sh*t school like CU to go to?

You're going to be shunned for even OWNING a full size truck in Boulder. That place is a frothing cesspool of liberal filth and should be obliterated.

I f*cking _HATE_ that place.

You should go to a real school like UW or Colo. School of Mines.

 

[christopher]

Don't knock Boulder too much, its a great town.

I went to CU and got my degree there, and then moved back after my tour in the army.

Called boulder home for 10 years and loved every minute of it!

It was a HECK of a lot of fun being one of the only real conservatives on campus.
Gave you all kinds of opportunities to heckle the libs.
Drove a FULL SIZE BRONCO and had a great time four wheeling on weekends (before I discovered sledding)

 

[rhalloran]

ehhhh, whatever, CU-Boulder is a good school, particularly for what you're doing, sure, there are people who think differently than a lot, but like someone else said, they're amusing. 2wd will get you more places than most people think. Studded snows, sled in the back, don't be a moron, carry chains, you'll be fine.

 

[tdbaugha]

if you're coming all the way out west to go to college why the F*CK would you pick a peice of sh*t school like CU to go to?

You're going to be shunned for even OWNING a full size truck in Boulder. That place is a frothing cesspool of liberal filth and should be obliterated.

I f*cking _HATE_ that place.

You should go to a real school like UW or Colo. School of Mines.

I decided to go to CU Boulder because they have are top 10 in the nation for graduate aerospace engineering. All the other schools that were supposedly better were ivy league schools and schools in southern California. NOT moving out east and NOT moving to so cal. I want to ride in the mountains as much as possible. School and sledding, that's all that matters. I couldn't give a **** less about how the people are there. If they give me a hard time, 99% of the time I'll be smarter than they are and be able to tell them off with cold hard facts... Easy

 

[tdbaugha]

ehhhh, whatever, CU-Boulder is a good school, particularly for what you're doing, sure, there are people who think differently than a lot, but like someone else said, they're amusing. 2wd will get you more places than most people think. Studded snows, sled in the back, don't be a moron, carry chains, you'll be fine.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. The town were I go to school gets 200 inches of snow a year and the only roads I have to avoid are the super steep(30% or greater grade) side roads in town. All the main roads that get maintained are NO problem with my snow tires.

 

[Dogmeat]

Don't knock Boulder too much, its a great town.

I went to CU and got my degree there, and then moved back after my tour in the army.

Called boulder home for 10 years and loved every minute of it!

It was a HECK of a lot of fun being one of the only real conservatives on campus.
Gave you all kinds of opportunities to heckle the libs.
Drove a FULL SIZE BRONCO and had a great time four wheeling on weekends (before I discovered sledding)

Boulder is a cespool of liberal stupidity, it is not a great town. CU is the figurehead the most brainless ideas ever achieved by humanity, second only to UC Davis in southern California. May they both burn in hell.