i'm telling you the amount of time you are going to have to go 4wheeling in the snow while you are attending CSM....slim to none. Program is like 17-19 hours per semester and they are hard courses.
Last time I had to use chains in Colorado was 1982 when we had 4 ft of snow out in Arvada(near Golden) and that was on my '70 Buick GSX.
Of course having chains wont hurt anything as backup but your AT tires with snowflake rating will be perfectly fine.
Just wait until you spend some time putting on chains in a snowstorm and then readjusting them every 10 minutes...and then breaking them when you have to run on pavement for awhile. Colorado roads can go from snowpack, wet, dry, icy within miles or within a 1/4 depending on the road exposure and plowing. This is why they have to threaten truckers to carry chains and put them on... They are a gigantic pain in the @ss.
You'll also find that winter wheeling isnt for the faint hearted, is not something you should do alone and as someone else mentioned, many of these forest service roads are closed by gates. And quite a number of them dont open until June 15th/July 1st in the high country.
Dont overthink this.
