Getting Over On Ski Areas

[highpeaksdrifter]

The bringing beer into the lodge thread got me thinking. It strikes me that some people feel it’s ok to do unethical things to ski areas that they would never consider doing to other businesses.

We have had a number of threads where people state that they sneak on to lifts without paying. They even have described the best way to do it at different ski areas. They have also fervently defined the practice and see nothing wrong with it. I don’t think these same people would shop lift or walk out of a restaurant without paying.

Theft of services is stealing, those that do it can sugarcoat it anyway they want, but it’s stealing.

BTW-I’m not equating sneaking a beer into a lodge/bar with getting on a lift without paying. So if you want to try and beat me down for what I wrote do it for stealing lift services.

[dmc]

Kid Rock on Stealing...

some bad language..

[dmc]

That being said..

i think anythings pretty much fair game until I'm told not to... As soon as Hunter put up sign to not bring alcohol into the lodge... i stopped..
I have snuck onto lifts at Jackson before... But that was more for the thrill and all the cool kids were doing it...

Better to do now and ask forgiveness later...

[severine]

Originally Posted by highpeaksdrifter

Theft of services is stealing, those that do it can sugarcoat it anyway they want, but it’s stealing.

Agreed. And it was my job last year to bust those thieving souls who tried such. I think you'll find more and more mountains cracking down because of the bad apples. And what some (like Andy) might complain about as invasion of privacy, loss of rights, etc. has become necessary to keep costs down for the rest of us who do pay to use the services provided by the ski areas (as well as keep their costs down). Running lifts, maintaining trails, making snow - all of it costs money. And every time someone uses those trails without paying, the bottom line increases for all of us. Not fair. They can scan my ticket all day, every day if it will keep costs down.

[Warp Daddy]

Originally Posted by severine

Agreed. . Running lifts, maintaining trails, making snow - all of it costs money. And every time someone uses those trails without paying, the bottom line increases for all of us. Not fair. They can scan my ticket all day, every day if it will keep costs down.

+1

[dmc]

Originally Posted by severine

Agreed. And it was my job last year to bust those thieving souls who tried such. I think you'll find more and more mountains cracking down because of the bad apples. And what some (like Andy) might complain about as invasion of privacy, loss of rights, etc. has become necessary to keep costs down for the rest of us who do pay to use the services provided by the ski areas (as well as keep their costs down). Running lifts, maintaining trails, making snow - all of it costs money. And every time someone uses those trails without paying, the bottom line increases for all of us. Not fair. They can scan my ticket all day, every day if it will keep costs down.

So were you working when you busted those "thieving souls"?

Just wondering...

I think mountains are cracking down hard because of the economy.. The "Bad apples" are just the people they are going after to try to recoup costs..

[severine]

Originally Posted by dmc

So were you working when you busted those "thieving souls"?

Just wondering...

I think mountains are cracking down hard because of the economy.. The "Bad apples" are just the people they are going after to try to recoup costs..

Yes, I worked in Loss Prevention last season. I was one of those dreaded ticket scanners you all like to complain about.

I'm sure economy has some role in it... but my point is that if you look the other way for a few who sneak by, then they'll bring more and before you know it, hardly anyone is paying for the services. You give an inch, they take a mile sort of thing. Before the "high tech" ticket scanning, it was easier to steal those services for sure. Now, it's getting more difficult. And that should be a deterrent in this behavior, even though I know realistically you cannot eliminate it entirely.

[Greg]

Originally Posted by highpeaksdrifter

We have had a number of threads where people state that they sneak on to lifts without paying. They even have described the best way to do it at different ski areas. They have also fervently defined the practice and see nothing wrong with it.

I think I missed these threads. Can you point me to one?

[deadheadskier]

When I took a ski area management class in college, one of the classes had an industry forum with several mountain managers / marketers from VT ski areas. They estimated that somewhere between 5-10% of their customers were using the facilities without paying, whether it be fake passes or just trying to hop on lifts in hopes of not being caught. It's no wonder the investment has been made into scanning technology.

I wonder what the black market is like for fake passes these days. When I was at UVM, every year someone seemed to get busted making them. I imagine it's near impossible now with the scanning technology.

[tjf67]

I would not jump on a lift without paying. As for bringing beer into the lodge. I do at times do it. When it costs 6 dollars for a 16once draft of coors light i feel the hill is stealing from me. I agree they need to make money, in my case over here the problem could be solved if they dropped the price a few bucks and put a few more or at least quicker bar tenders on the line. I have left many times because I can not get a beer. I am known to down 6 beers in an hour after skiing. Thats 36 bucks before tip. That is not my idea of a fair deal.