For a just-barely inbounds experience, obsess over Opensnow.com forecasts to get yourself to Steamboat on a powder day, then make your way ASAP to the Morningside lift from the back side of the resort. Look for the radio tower to your right as you unload. Take a deep breath — you'll be well above 10,000 feet of elevation by this point — and then point for the tower. Ride down to the gate for Christmas Tree Bowl (drop in here if it's untracked and save the walk for later), then unbuckle and start the brief hike to the summit. From there you'll have several options, all of them down steep and lightly gladed chutes punctuated by several cliff-drop line options, and all on terrain that you won't believe is an actual run. No Names, North St. Pat's and East Face are all excellent — and essentially all the same run — but No Names has the best name and is the easiest to return from once you're out of the steeps and in danger of getting bogged down in the flats. Alternately, keep hiking for a few more yards and take a selfie for your mom by the skull-and-crossbones side-country warnings.
Readers' choice: Drunken Frenchman, Winter Park