I have lived two places in my life. Northern California and Boulder, Colorado. Coming from NorCal, I had some pretty high expectations going to Boulder (beautiful scenery, constant warm weather, suburban/urban setting), and Boulder probably met or exceeded all those expectations. The view of the flatirons and front range never got old for me. Boulder is a beautiful town and amazing place to live. The weather is incredible in the fall and spring. Summer weather is warm, but NOT HOT AND MUGGY like most the rest of the country (South, East, etc...). And the winters are nicer than I expected. Usually the weather is in the high 40's to 50's, and that's not bad considering what it is up north and on the east coast. It hardly ever rains. You get snow, but your talking once a week or every other week. And when it snows, it is not uncommon to be able to wear shorts the next day!! It is sunny there 300+ days a year. The only thing I did not like about Colorado were the high wind winter days.
I have traveled all over this country (35+ states), and Colorado is one of the top 10 to live in (in my opinion).

I would not try to live up in the mountains, especially if you want to be an airline pilot. Commuting will be tough, especially when the weather steps in. Go to the front range. Boulder is an amazing town. Some places South of Denver like Centennial, Littleton, and Golden are also amazing towns. Commute to DIA is like 30-40 minutes. And from Denver, you can commute literally ANYWHERE with ease.