It is 10 a.m. on a Friday. You are in class. Because you are naughty, you decide to check Facebook. Your friends have messaged you: they want to go backcountry skiing, and they want to get really crazy. However, massive instability in the snowpack makes that a risk you’re not willing to take. Don’t despair! These inbounds runs won’t slide on you, but they will help you get your adrenaline fix.
For those on the Epic Pass, there are a plenty of options, most of them hike-to. Arapahoe Basin has arguably the best hike-to skiing on the pass in Colorado. When the East Wall is open and has snow, it is both steeper and much safer than most of the backcountry terrain on Loveland Pass. Upper East Wall is more than worth the hike.
North Pole is one of my favorite inbounds chutes in Colorado, and the tree chutes are challenging. For those not willing to hike, you can drop in from the Lewanee Lift fir slightly mellower skiing. For the other mountains, Vail probably has the most to offer, with a number of things to jump off of. Go big on Vail Cliffs to impress the ladies (or guys) in the lift line.
Crested Butte, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass, and Telluride provide great options for the brave Colorado College skier willing to venture farther afield. Crested Butte is famous for its terrain, and those who will attend Winterfest should attempt to fit The Headwall, Paradise Cliffs, Banana, and Funnel into their busy schedule of day drinking and trying not to think about graduation.
Aspen Highlands has the Highlands Bowl, probably the most famous ski hike in the Centennial State, and a mandatory addition to any collection of exciting ski runs in Colorado. Snowmass has the Cirque Headwall and Hanging Valley Wall, probably the shortest of any of the hikes on this list, but it’s still just as fun.
Telluride has, in my opinion, the best hike-to terrain in Colorado: Palmyra Peak. The hike takes about an hour and a half, and tops out at 13,320 feet. From the summit, you descend a short, steep chute to equally steep open terrain that holds snow well after the rest of the mountain has been skied out.
The Gold Hill chutes, as well, are lines as committing as any you are liable to ski at a resort. They are barely accessible without a series of stairs built into the mountain, and the scenery (and terrain) feels more like Chamonix than Beaver Creek.
Of course, if you have a ton of money to blow (no season passes here) and are truly determined to get steep and deep “inbounds,” Silverton Mountain absolutely blows everything else out of the water. Its logo is a skier falling. It’s essentially heliskiing from a chairlift. If you think you can get down anything inbounds, Silverton Mountain is there to prove you wrong. Also, it’s insanely expensive, so keep that in mind if you’re planning a Block Break there.