Oldranger you cover a lot of ground with all western schools!

But he's probably correct, if you take it in the broad sense he meant it. California, Oregon and Washington abound in mountains and backpacking opportunities. Also true of Montana and Idaho. Arizona? Yep. Utah? Absolutely! Then again you can't forget Colorado and Wyoming, either. Both superb. Nevada also counts, mainly because any city large enough to have a university will be on the western edge of the state, making the Sierras easily accessible. I hear marvelous things about New Mexico, too.

I can't think of a western state where you'd go badly wrong, if you crave the chance to do some backpacking and mountaineering. (Unless you consider Nebraska as "western".)