Fort lewis is a great time. I graduated from there 2 years ago. Now I run an online ski shop for one of the local shops in town. Follow the advice of buying powder skis. It will be worth it.
as for resorts and shredding here is the lowdown
- Purgatory- 30 min away
-Telluride- 2 hours (depending on weather)
- Wolf Creek- 1 1/2 hours (depending on weather)
-Silverton- 1 hour (also depending on weather)
- Hesperus- (small local hill just west, some fun night shredding, nothing to get too excited about,but can be great) 20 min away
- Chapman hill- (in town, comes down from campus into town, 1 rope tow. great times to be had here)
Enjoy it