Canaanman's post and the following one by Swimmer point up the major attitude differences about skiing out of bounds in east vs. west. These differences are sensibly based on real physical differences in the terrain and snowpack. Ropes must be taken very seriously in the west and you must only enter through the control gates.

As to the east, I'll assert that northern VT has the best trees and the best tree skiers in the world. Skiing the trees is a big part of the culture. The patrol know that and if they regard you as worthy and responsible (mostly a matter of not entering or leaving the woods when others are watching, especially kids), they will show you the good stuff. In the east you have conifers and hardwoods mixed up with much tighter and more irregular spacing than the west. Add ledges, waterfalls (ice cliffs in winter) and streambeds and you have a heck of a challenge. Those who ski this stuff well, and there are many of them, are good. New England has a moist 'maritime' snowpack that consolidates quickly after a storm. In the east you have to ski through the storm to get the best powder and the best of all is in the trees and near the trees on open slopes. Typically the powder starts to set up as soon as it stops snowing. A matter of hours can make all the difference. You have to be careful about which drainage you start down and how far you go. Go down too far and there will be a high ridge between you and where you must go to get out. Some of the remote places, like Jay Peak, have many square miles in which to get lost. It can be -40 on a cold winter night. You don't want to spend a night in that.

Above treeline in the west it is frightening at best to ski in a storm. Whiteout and the vertigo that goes with it are not fun. Furthermore you may be in a life threatening situation from avalanche or lack of visibility. I skied off a 20 foot cliff at Arapahoe Basin in a Whiteout. Didn't have the slightest idea it was there, but fortunately landed in very deep powder.

Heavily treed eastern slopes rarely slide although big slides that start above the timberline have been known to travel far into the trees below. The Gulf of Slides on Mt. Washington (the name is a hint) had one in Feb. 1996 that swept through a quarter mile of dense trees on a sub 20 degree pitch and killed 2 guys. There is a small plaque at the first aid cache the base of the bowl in their memory. Their mistakes were, 1.) being there in mid winter when the snow has not consolidated, and 2.) ignoring a high avalanche warning for Tuckerman Ravine a mile or two away. Both ravines are at the same altitude, face the same direction, and have almost the same pitch. Avalanche warnings are posted for Tuckerman but not for Gulf of Slides. The slides had 1100 vertical feet of 35 - 40 degree open slope on which to pick up momentum before hitting the trees. When I was there in May to ski well consolidated spring corn, the tree damage was very impressive. A swath hundreds of feet wide was broken, bent, ripped up by the roots and shattered.