where are you guys hiking in from?  I know a bunch of people that make day trips up, drive up, hike in, ski, hike out in one day, and they claimed the hike was not more than like 2.5 miles.
And yes, as far as I know (second hand knowledge) there is a good amount of you fall you're fucked terrain, but its not all like that, pick your terrain carefully.  Also, I think late April to Early June is best time to ski it.  It scares the hell out of me when I hear about people going into tuck's mid winter (which I heard about a few people doing this winter), that is basically asking to die.
life is too short to have any regrets