Look, I'm definitely not about making fake season passes, but don't think that the mountains make a huge profit off of season pass holders. The money comes from tourists, and it will always be that way. There are people that pay as much for two days of skiing as I pay for my entire season pass to Winter Park.
And about ripping off the mountain, most places don't deserve it, but some do. I may or may not do certain things to get free stuff at Vail. After the deal with viacom that put MTV on the mountain, I don't really care about squeeking out a little from Vail Resorts.