Sharing passes

[Sirshredalot]

As we travel about this season from east to BC then west, I have to say if you value your skiing, want to see improvements to snowmaking, lifts, infrastructure, buy your own fucking pass. Don't be a scumbag

Depends. If it's Vail or Boyne, I say stick it to the man. If it's a little indie place or a non-profit, don't be a scumbag.

[LightRanger]

I would love to see Monty Python doing this skit. Guy standing behind the mark with wire cutters and the mark keeps looking back so the thief just keeps jolting back into some innocent looking position.

"excuse me, what are you doing?"
"who, me?" (nobody else is there)
"yes, who else would I be speaking to"
"Oh, right, well, nothing really, just standing here"
"were you trying to cut my pass off?"
"WHAT!?!?! NO!! certainly not"
"then why do you have those wire cutters?"
"What wire cutters?"
"the ones in your hand?"
"oh, right, these, well they're nothing really"
"I must say I do believe you were trying to cut off my pass"
"I most certainly was not....but... would you mind if I did?"
"WOULD I MIND IF YOU DID!?!?!"
"yeah"
"Would I mind if you cut off my pass? Is that what you're asking?"
"yeah"
"no, I suppose I wouldn't be bothered by that, I was leaving anyway"

yeah, well, that's why they're Monty Python and I'm not, but you get the idea.
meh,whaddyallknowfromfunnyanyway....

That's a spot-on dialogue.

[dtown]

I would love to see Monty Python doing this skit. Guy standing behind the mark with wire cutters and the mark keeps looking back so the thief just keeps jolting back into some innocent looking position.

"excuse me, what are you doing?"
"who, me?" (nobody else is there)
"yes, who else would I be speaking to"
"Oh, right, well, nothing really, just standing here"
"were you trying to cut my pass off?"
"WHAT!?!?! NO!! certainly not"
"then why do you have those wire cutters?"
"What wire cutters?"
"the ones in your hand?"
"oh, right, these, well they're nothing really"
"I must say I do believe you were trying to cut off my pass"
"I most certainly was not....but... would you mind if I did?"
"WOULD I MIND IF YOU DID!?!?!"
"yeah"
"Would I mind if you cut off my pass? Is that what you're asking?"
"yeah"
"no, I suppose I wouldn't be bothered by that, I was leaving anyway"

yeah, well, that's why they're Monty Python and I'm not, but you get the idea.
meh,whaddyallknowfromfunnyanyway....

This reminds me of a time I was the victim of the most polite attempted robbery of all time. My wife, buddy and I are in London and a kid comes up to us and says "excuse me, do you mind if I rob you and you claim insurance"? We were dumbfounded, said no thank you and he said thank you anyway and went on his way.

[Bunion 2020]

At BB the lifty crew is on the lookout because of the rewards. Generally 1-3 radio calls a day about ticket scams.

Asscan and I rarely agree, but ski areas cost money to operate. Buy a pass or go in the BC.

[BmillsSkier]

Depends. If it's Boyne, I say stick it to the man.

You don't pay for your Gatlinburg Skylift tickets?

[Bosco]

If you share a pass, you're a thief, plain and simple. For the record, I was a thief in my younger years...

[detrusor]

Used to buy a box of key rings. Put the wicket on the ring, ski the morning and sell the pass in the afternoon....just hand over the ticket and ring. No cutting.

The first electronic gates at big sky would let 2 through if you were quick. Once on top no checking.

[tenB]

Went to Mt Hood Meadows for the first time in 1991 with buddies. I was the only one that bought a ticket. They'd been skiing there for several years without buying tickets because nobody ever checked. Times have changed.

Also remember some college kid in Portland getting busted for making fake Meadows season passes. It made the news and he was prosecuted. It seems like a much riskier business model than making fake drivers' licenses.

[BmillsSkier]

Also remember some college kid in Portland getting busted for making fake Meadows season passes. It made the news and he was prosecuted. It seems like a much riskier business model than making fake drivers' licenses.

Doubt it. There was a guy in the fraternity next to ours in college who got busted making fake drivers' licenses to sell to underclassmen. Secret Service busted him, or some treasury officers, massive fine, 5 years of probation, kicked out of school and had to reapply to get back in, and still has to report he has a felony on his record to every employer to this day.

Last I heard he was ok with it, because the sales jobs he was able to get with a felony allow him to still smoke weed like a chimney. So there's that.

[happytimefunbox]

Bought season pass at brighton this year. Couple weeks ago me and the kid decide to run up for a couple laps Sunday afternoon. Get there, fuck left my pass in my other shell. Go into custy service, explain the situation, you can buy a half pricer. For 2 hours? Yep. F that walk out the door and start asking people outside custy service if they are done skiing for the day. Sir sir that is stealing. Please explain to me how I am stealing something I already paid for. Kinda hot ski bunny overhears the conversation, asks me to buy her a coffee and trades it for her ticket. I win, she wins and brighton wins. Customer service is not this mountains strong suite.

Btw a much larger more corporate resort in the next canyon gives you a get outta jail ticket once per season if you forget yours. Then you pay half for continued stupidity after that...

[concretejungle]

At BB the lifty crew is on the lookout because of the rewards. Generally 1-3 radio calls a day about ticket scams.

Asscan and I rarely agree, but ski areas cost money to operate. Buy a pass or go in the BC.

Yeah, they're really "on the lookout" when they ask me my name when I get scanned.

Good thing I've got that one down after all these years.

[Foggy_Goggles]

At Winter Park, the scam pass had been standard for decades. The only people who got caught were true jackasses. We've got the ski data system now were the picture pops up on a computer/tablet in the lift line. I've never seen or heard of anyone getting caught but they are looking.

[::: :::]

Bought season pass at brighton this year. Couple weeks ago me and the kid decide to run up for a couple laps Sunday afternoon. Get there, fuck left my pass in my other shell. Go into custy service, explain the situation, you can buy a half pricer. For 2 hours? Yep. F that walk out the door and start asking people outside custy service if they are done skiing for the day. Sir sir that is stealing. Please explain to me how I am stealing something I already paid for. Kinda hot ski bunny overhears the conversation, asks me to buy her a coffee and trades it for her ticket. I win, she wins and brighton wins. Customer service is not this mountains strong suite.

Btw a much larger more corporate resort in the next canyon gives you a get outta jail ticket once per season if you forget yours. Then you pay half for continued stupidity after that...

God, that's shitty

If we forget, we get a free replacement "paper" pass (it's the same material as the day passes and holds up ok to abuse); or, you pay ten bucks to recreate a plastic pass with the photo. They are both scannable at the lift turnstile.

You've already fucking paid for a season!

[tom tuttle from tacoma washington]

Yeah, they're really "on the lookout" when they ask me my name when I get scanned.

Good thing I've got that one down after all these years.

Do you tell them, "hey my fucking name is Concrete Jungle"

[nickwm21]

When I was a lifty at Alpine, we used to get a free lunch voucher if we caught someone for ticket fraud. I would catch a few everyday and eat free lunch all winter. Most of the time it was young adults buying teen tickets.

[Conundrum]

I scammed a season pass at a resort with turnstyles. A buddy broke his leg on day 2 of his season pass at the mountain. It was a bad enough break he was done for the season. He asked them if they would be willing to charge him for two day tickets and refund the rest. The mountain said no so he sold it to me for $20. I've never felt bad about that. I've also skinned up past bottom chairs that scanned to ski upper lifts where they don't check especially on public forests. I've also sold my day pass after skiing in the morning or bought someone else's in the afternoon. I've only done it at bigger resorts with $100+ lift tickets. Someone paid over $100+ for a day to be on the chair. I've never scammed on a mom and pop ski hill.

[happytimefunbox]

God, that's shitty

If we forget, we get a free replacement "paper" pass (it's the same material as the day passes and holds up ok to abuse); or, you pay ten bucks to recreate a plastic pass with the photo. They are both scannable at the lift turnstile.

You've already fucking paid for a season!

No shit right. And if you lose your pass its 250 to replace it. The material in it and the rfid chip are less than a buck.

[Flyoverland Captive]

Have found day tickets on the slope on a few occasions because someone did not secure it properly. Always felt bad for who ever lost it. I'll usually try to find someone at the window line who "looks" deserving and hook them up.

I found a day ticket mid-run at Hoodoo last week that had fallen off someone's coat. Upon closer inspection, the Jong had put the wicket between the two halves of the ticket the wrong way, with the pointy end buried between the layers, and the open end out. They then bent the two loose ends in an attempt to fasten it to their coat. It obviously didn't hold. I turned it in to a lifty.

[muted]

There was a guy at Bridger who used a girl's pass for a long, long time. He wore a wig at first, then really got into it and cross-dressed some days. When he hiked the ridge he'd unzip his jacket and be wearing a bra or whatever. It was hilarious, because he was ripped and strong as hell.

[TahoeJ]

Squawlpine outfitted the lifties with tablets that bring up your pass photo when you tag your pass. Some lifties will say "Hello, <your name>" (probably just being polite, not some psyops thing). At other lifts with multiple lanes (the Funitel), sometimes the system gets bogged down (photos load slow or in random order not matched to the gate) and the lifties will stop you and ask to see your pass.

Of course, nobody says anything to the guys with the full face masks, mirrored goggles, and helmets that make photo ID impossible. I don't think Squaw collects biometric (height, weight) data, so as long as you're within a decade or two of the passholder, I doubt any eyebrows would be raised.

On the other hand... the Squaw / Alpine app on your phone could be a give away. Notice this season when you drive up the resort and your phone / app pops up with a "welcome to squaw" message? I doubt they have it together enough to tie it all in (I mean, they can barely run their lifts properly) but I could see it happening in the future.

[yeahman]

The first electronic gates at big sky would let 2 through if you were quick. Once on top no checking.

Those were the gates that required you to insert your ticket and have it scanned, right? And the ticket was on a stretchy cord, not attached to your coat. Got busted one day trying to scan my ticket and then hand it behind me to my buddy. Of course they had it set up to not allow the same ticket to scan twice in a row. DUH!

I don't lend out my Big Sky season pass these days. Don't want to risk my good standing at the resort. Plus, I know a lot of people hate Boyne, but they have really cut me some slack on a couple different occasions and I don't feel any inclination to rip them off. If you are a regular pass buyer, Big Sky customer service seems very willing and able to work with you, that's been my experience.

[Bunion 2020]

^^^ those turnstiles would also let you through if you gave them a good bump.

I know a lot of people hate Boyne, but they have really cut me some slack on a couple different occasions and I don't feel any inclination to rip them off. If you are a regular pass buyer, Big Sky customer service seems very willing and able to work with you, that's been my experience.

The way I look at it is, stealing is stealing whether it is from Walmart or Town and Country.

[Diamond Joe]

Maybe not sharing tickets, but I used to scam every chance I got in my younger, poorer days

I would ski Cannon a lot because the lifties were the laziest about checking passes. I almost never had anybody ask for my pass at the base lift there, and for sure not on the midmountain lifts. at K-mart, we would shoulder our skis and hike up to midmountain lifts. skiing onto a chair without a pass takes some balls, there's no way I could do that now

I clipped tickets a lot too, although I would always offer the person 10 bucks or whatever. clipping tickets was definitely a skill, you had to be able to judge people and know who to approach. In my experience, women did not like to do something they perceived as sketchy or illegal. Older dudes, same thing.. I didnt see clipping tickets as stealing back then, my rational was that the money had been paid for somebody to be riding the lift that day, who cares if it wasnt the same person all day?

[yeahman]

Maybe not sharing tickets, but I used to scam every chance I got in my younger, poorer days

Yeah, I did my share too, can't get on a high horse about people who scam because when I was broke I skinned up a lot of mountains and skied the upper lifts for free. These days I'm honest, but maybe that's only because I have the money to afford to be honest. Gee I'm getting all introspective now.

[Bunion 2020]

Yep, fairly common.

Good bud of mine who is now some sort of a DC staffer used to work in a Ski Repair shop and was a wizard at judging people and using the heat gun to separate their pass from the wicket. He kept a bunch of the slick sided paper from used tickets on hand to preserve the passes. He did a tidy underground business on used tickets.

When I brought the subject up a year or so ago he wanted to forget all about that chapter.

And to add, most areas are a lot more on it with checking tickets these days. If they want to reduce shrinkage all they have to do is check passes.