If you wanted to go with a Virginia state college and skiing or snowboarding was a high priority, you could do a lot worse than James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. It's located very near Massanutten ski area and within an easy day trip to three or four others. It seems to have an active recreational and racing ski community. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the trail this lady racer from JMU is heading down is Widowmaker at Snowshoe, WV, under what looks like excellent snow conditions.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/116225973/117151562BFiOvO
PS: Do a lot of folks have trouble viewing these images?

Jim,
That is most certainly the Widowmaker trail. And indeed, the conditions looked quite good!
I had the good fortune last season to be there during conditions like that

-Warren-

My daughter raced for UVA, graduating in '92. The other teams in the league were VA Tech, JMU, Penn State, UMD, Georgetown, perhaps 1-2 more but I can't recall. The UVA team was self organized and self coached. It was not a major sport but they got some help from the Univ. I believe that the top 5 men and top 5 women got lift tickets and lodging on some trips. The meets involved all the teams in the conference and many were held at Timberline. Training was evenings at Bryce, which has an excellent race program. The kids had a lot of fun. I went to many meets to provide moral support. My daughter claims that this was the best way to be a college athlete, no scholarships, no big deal, just a bunch of kids competing and doing something they wanted to do. I ran track and cross country in a similarly low key (at the time) program and I agree.

Denis,

That's really cool. Were there multiple disciplines? I guess our local slopes could support SL and GS. Or maybe SG on Cupp and Shays. Anyway I just think its neat that I live in an area where our local colleges have ski teams

I captained the Duke team in the late 80s. It was indeed a great way to be a college athlete. Modest support from the school, otherwise student run with a volunteer coach (a grad student with race experience usually). Team raised $$$ to supplement school funding, which paid for travel, lift tix, race fees, etc. We raced SL and GS (no DH or SG at the collegiate level, as far as I know). The league at that time included UVA, JMU, W&L, VaTech, VMI, Duke, UNC plus two schools in the NC mountains (Appalachian State and Lees-McRae College) where the sport was varsity and the training mountain was 15 minutes away. Naturally, they kicked our behinds routinely. Nonetheless, it was great to walk down the quad at Duke on a Saturday evening with skis over our shoulders!

This has me wondering... either collegiate or not, are there ever any official snowboard races? Not counting doing spins, flips, grabs, etc in the terrian park but actual downhill racing? I can't think of the official name of it, but the olympics have it along with the World Snowboarding championships. 6 people line up at the gate and race side by side downhill.