hey guys, looking at grad school in montana…tell me about bozeman? compared to boulder? i dont compete anymore but love running trails and cycling…also heard the skiing is decent…thanks!
hey guys, looking at grad school in montana…tell me about bozeman? compared to boulder? i dont compete anymore but love running trails and cycling…also heard the skiing is decent…thanks!I don’t know anything about Bozeman, but I DO have a bit of experience with the People’s Republic of Boulder.
The whole 'nose in the air my poo smells like roses ‘cause I live in Boulder’ thing gets to me so I’d pick Bozeman in a heartbeat if those were the only 2 choices.
Another place to look is NAU in Flagstaff if you want ‘outdoors’ and aren’t set on either of the above. Ditto with Ft Lewis in Durango and CO State in ‘Ft Fun*’ and Western State CO Univ in Gunnison
HTH
M
*aka Ft Collins
Bozeman is the bomb. Had a friend in town this weekend from Boulder and he was in love.
The trail system just in town is enourmous, and the access to the mountains is right out your back door, endless trail oportunities. Plenty of quiet road bike routes, same with MTB. MSU has a pretty nice 25yrd pool, swim center in town is 50m. Not a huge tri scene here but everyone is very active and all about the outdoors.
Skiing compared to Boulder is waaay better. Big sky is 50 min away, Bridger bowl is 30 min, no traffic, no lift lines even on “busy” days.
for startres
http://bridgerridgerun.wordpress.com/
http://winddrinkers.org/ridge-run/
Then you can bike the Yellowstone Park whenever you want…Dude…I live in Billings. Montana is the best kept secret in the country. You can go on 60 mile bikes on a Sunday morn and get passed by three cars…seriously
hey guys, looking at grad school in montana…tell me about bozeman? compared to boulder? i dont compete anymore but love running trails and cycling…also heard the skiing is decent…thanks!
I went to grad school at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Hands down some of the best trails, roads and skiing in the world, bar none. Cost of living is super cheap and there is a ton of stuff to do. Very active tri scene.
Friends don’t let friends be Cats… Go Griz!!! Look into U of M?
So how does that compare boulder to bozeman?
So how does that compare boulder to bozeman?
Doesn’t and wasn’t meant to. Merely providing other alternatives.
Been living in Boulder for the past 6 months, and I still have yet to experience this “nose in the air” you and others keep hounding on…please explain. Everyone I’ve met in Boulder is nice, down to earth, and friendly. Meh.
Friends don’t let friends be Cats… Go Griz!!! Look into U of M?
That’s funny. Lived in Bozeman for 7 years (still have a house there) and it took for-eeevvvceeerrr to “get” the rivalry between Missoula and Bozo. Both towns are awesome in their own ways. But…
The OP asked about Boulder vs. Bozeman. I’d say if cost of living and/or proximity to skiing are big issues - ya gotta go with Bozeman.
On a powder day the campus practically shuts down. You’re likely to take a chair up the mountain with your “sick” professor at Bridger 
Awesome trails in practically every direction. Watch for: Black bears, mountain lions, grizzly bears and Moose!
Rich people can be found in abundant numbers in the Big Sky area. But too far from campus to be a concern.
Missoula? I guess it depends if they offer your major. Worth a look-see.
Bozeman is great, tho sprawl (in a small sense) is start to take hold of the valley. Bridger is a little closer than eldo but with much better skiing (eldo is downhill ice skating). It’s cooler in bozeman by a little bit and you get more rounded seasons. I really really really like bozeman but it lacks a critical mass of people for what I’m looking for. Trails around bozeman for skating in winter and running in summer are fantastic. Airport and travel access are a bit limited. I’m greatly impressed with having a major international airport only 40min away from boulder.
Watch for: Black bears, mountain lions, grizzly bears and Moose!
You have less to worry about with Black bears. We used to chase them around whenever we saw them while I was stationed up in Anchorage and did land nav courses. I’m more nervous about Moose than any other animal you could run into. I know a few people who have been killed by moose and have run into a couple of them running before.
Boulder: Liberal
Bozeman: Conservative
Boulder: CU has super strong tri club
Bozeman: community tri club growing
Bozeman has an airport (well, a few miles out of town). Boulder means you fly out of Denver.
No sales tax in Montana. Both have great scenery. Near great skiing.
Who will give you the most $$$ in graduate support?
Both are expensive with housing.
Obviously depending on your field of study, research, but I am sure you have figured that out and looked at the curriculum and the Professors etc. It will be your decision.
My 2 cents, lived in Boulder for many years, I only go back to visit family for 2-3 days at a time can’t stand it any longer then I have had enough, Gluten-Free, Look at me, Yoga-Puke, Everybody is SUPER important, traffic is horrendous, Rush, Rush, Rush as a Boulder High & CU grad I still miss the campus area, nothing like taking off on a run up Flagstaff or down to Eldorado Springs, grab a beer at Herbies Deli or the Dark Horse , but that said, you can take this once awesome place and forget it. It has become ( I hate this word) Bucket List Town, you can then tell all your friends , Oh I lived in Boulder, I’m so cool I just ran or biked with so & so. I am old school, we do not talk about who we trained on the runs, rides, etc with. Maybe I am being a little harsh on the people who want to experience Boulder. Well I never was PC correct.
anyway,
GO TO BOZEMAN !!, Don’t tell anybody, they will all come and ruin it.
Good Luck
Watch for: Black bears, mountain lions, grizzly bears and Moose!
You have less to worry about with Black bears. We used to chase them around whenever we saw them while I was stationed up in Anchorage and did land nav courses. I’m more nervous about Moose than any other animal you could run into. I know a few people who have been killed by moose and have run into a couple of them running before.
Even though the sub-species of Moose on MT is smaller than the ones up in Alaska, they can get feisty. My wife got chased by a bull a few years back. I did have a black bear (boar) chase me once while on a run. Lucky for me I had a huge head start. Never ran that trail so fast in all my life!
I love that part about Montana. (not much of a city guy)
Obviously depending on your field of study, research, but I am sure you have figured that out and looked at the curriculum and the Professors etc. It will be your decision.
I’m surprised it took this long for that answer.
I went to grad school is Bozeman (Exercise Physiology under Dan Heil). I now work in Boulder at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.
If you are in the field, Send me a message and I can get more specific.
Bozeman was an awesome experience. It is a very “real” city. I enjoyed the closeness of skiing (Bridger is by far and away my favorite place to ski), the closeness of the mountains, the ease of “getting away from it all”. The lack of competition etc. Everyone about Bozeman is what its not and it probably is what Boulder was 40 years ago. Mountain biking is great. Trail running is phenomenal (South Cottonwood is still my favorite). Road biking can lack variety. Races are few and far between / you have to travel. Bozeman is fairly cold. The coldest I’ve been in is -60, the coldest I’ve run in is ~(-20) and its gone for a week without getting above 0 degrees.
Boulder is, to me, a great compromise. I work at a terrific facility. I have great job. I have opportunities for running, biking and skiing that cannot be found other places. BUT there are a lot of people here. It is very busy especially considering the population density all the way to Denver. I’m not sure, however, that I can find all of the opportunities anywhere else and I’m not looking to move. The weather is very moderate. Its been 40-50’s throughout most of the winter, we’ve had a week of snow and now the temperature is heading back up.
With that said. The wife and I have agreed that if there is ever a point where we do not need to work, we’d be back in Bozeman.
Man, running trails in AK is amazing… until you run into either a bull moose or a cow moose and her baby… I’d rather run into the bull. Black bears are small in AK, that and we wore body armor making us look bigger and we would usually yell loudly chasing them haha!
I miss Missoula and all the outdoors around it. Currently live in Chicagoland and I hate it. No mountains anywhere and taxes are outrageous. We’re headed to Monterey, CA next year so I can learn Arabic at the Defense Language Institute and I am so excited to get into the cycling scene there.
Been living in Boulder for the past 6 months, and I still have yet to experience this “nose in the air” you and others keep hounding on…please explain. Everyone I’ve met in Boulder is nice, down to earth, and friendly. Meh.
I agree with this. Went to grad school at CU and really enjoyed it, but I did live in Superior so maybe I missed the whole “Boulder” thing. Eldora is not a terrible resort. Good enough to get some turns in and keep you happy between road trips to oth CO or UT resorts. Running and biking is great.
Not familiar with Bozeman, but if I had it to do again I would have gone back to Utah.
drn92
Boulder: Liberal
Bozeman: Conservative
Boulder: CU has super strong tri club
Bozeman: community tri club growing
Bozeman has an airport (well, a few miles out of town). Boulder means you fly out of Denver.
No sales tax in Montana. Both have great scenery. Near great skiing.
Who will give you the most $$$ in graduate support?
Both are expensive with housing.
Which really means you fly out of Kansas. DIA is in the middle of nowhere!
I moved to Bozeman this last May from Boise, ID.
I work on campus at MSU. There are a lot of active students who like to do just about everything outdoors.
There is a growing MTB scene with new trails being made each year from what I have found out since living here. There is also a growing cycling community in general.
Skiing is AMAZING
Big Sky and Moonlight Basin are about 50min. to 1hr. to the lift from bozeman. Bridger Bowl is only 16 miles from downtown Bozeman and has had several times that it dumped 3+ feet in 2-3 days up there this year. There is also lots of passionate backcountry skiers as well as a large ice climbing community.
Let me know if you have anymore questions about the town or surrounding area. I am stilling learning myself but willing to answer whatever I can.