Using a ski pass that isn't mine!

hippy.

hippy.

Active member
My brother and buddy are coming out to visit me and instead of a Vail season pass they got a squaw pass. The amount of skiing they'll be doing requires them to buy a season pass, but after they leave they have zero use for the pass. How sketchy is it to use my brother's season pass at Squaw. Has anyone been caught? Do they ever make you take goggles and or a face mask off?
 
can't say about your resort, but I was borrowing buddies seasons passes for my family all last week.

Worst case, you get charged with theft and have to pay for skiing that you should have paid for anyway.

shred it.
 
As long as your not some grown ass man and your pass says your 12 you should be ok worst case they pull a pass that isn't your

That you didn't pay for
 
General rule of thumb, never dime out the guy who gave you his pass.

Just say that you found it and that you don't know who the guy is.
 
I have a buddy who was used his dads pass multiple days. The one time he got caught, the liftie's exact words were, "I don't get paid enough to care." Pretty sure you'll be fine.
 
At Squaw they use just a scanner and turn bar and scans your pass and your through. There are people with iPads that can see who passes through when you get scanned. As long as you can look like the dude in the picture in your ski gear and answer by his name you're good. They will just say like Hello James or whatever. I'm not even sure if there's a picture, on my day pass there wasn't, I'd guess the season pass might
 
I used my male friend's pass at Northstar once and literally nobody cared... at all. We're about the same height but he doesn't have mile long braided hair, it turned out fine.

As far as Squaw, they have scanners and your name/pass pic pops up on screens they carry but I've never seen one of them say the person's name or call them out to have them lift up their goggles. Especially if you remotely look like the pass pic, I doubt anybody would notice.

Like a couple people said, they don't get paid enough to or want to put out the effort to make you take your goggles or face mask off. There aren't really supervisors around going "hey, did you make that guy take off his entire helmet/goggle/face mask combo to make sure it's the real guy?"
 
Squaw can be super sketchy to use someone else's pass at....we used to trade with my roomies and stuff, and multiple times they have been asked their name/birthday/to take their goggles off. And yes, we all look alike hahaha
 
KSL get over here.. we gotta little poser who wants to ski without paying. How are we gonna build my water slide now?
 
This one guy I know borrowed his friends dads pass. Did not end well, he got unlucky and ran into a liftie that took their job insanely seriously.

They pulled the pass and charged him with theft over $1000. Kinda Shitty tbh.
 
13772900:Jesse_ said:
This one guy I know borrowed his friends dads pass. Did not end well, he got unlucky and ran into a liftie that took their job insanely seriously.

They pulled the pass and charged him with theft over $1000. Kinda Shitty tbh.
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I feel like in OP's case if this ever happened he could pull the idiot card and say he used his brothers jacket/pants that day and forgot to switch passes. In theory, this could be a very honest mistake.
 
13772917:Mingg said:
I feel like in OP's case if this ever happened he could pull the idiot card and say he used his brothers jacket/pants that day and forgot to switch passes. In theory, this could be a very honest mistake.
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faire enough...
 
For sure! Sounds like I'll be using his pass after he leaves. My brother now feels a little better about forking over the pass.
 
You will probably be fine, but know things like birth dates etc....Just in case they ask you.

I still don't think it is a good idea. I have had people ask me to borrow my Mammoth pass. I don't do it, because if they were caught I would probably have had to either press charges for theft, or not be able to buy a pass at Mammoth again. I ski Mammoth about 30 days a year and given the fact that I live in socal I don't have another option, if Mammoth won't sell me a pass I'm fucked. When you look at it this way it seems very selfish to borrow a pass, you are risking screwing your brother over just to save some money. There is almost no way it will happen but if it does the consequences are pretty horrible. Would you want both you and your brother to be banned from skiing Squaw? If the worst were to happen wouldn't you feel stupid for borrowing a pass and screwing yourselves just to save a few bucks? I really don't think it is worth it.

Having said all of that, I highly doubt you will get caught. But ask yourself, is it worth the risk? I don't know how long they would ban you from Squaw for getting caught doing this but I really don't want to find out.
 
Ive used buddies passes at resorts and havent been caught. Ive also used my own pass at a resort and they made me show my face before i got on the lift.
 
13773050:dan4060 said:
You will probably be fine, but know things like birth dates etc....Just in case they ask you.

I still don't think it is a good idea. I have had people ask me to borrow my Mammoth pass. I don't do it, because if they were caught I would probably have had to either press charges for theft, or not be able to buy a pass at Mammoth again. I ski Mammoth about 30 days a year and given the fact that I live in socal I don't have another option, if Mammoth won't sell me a pass I'm fucked. When you look at it this way it seems very selfish to borrow a pass, you are risking screwing your brother over just to save some money. There is almost no way it will happen but if it does the consequences are pretty horrible. Would you want both you and your brother to be banned from skiing Squaw? If the worst were to happen wouldn't you feel stupid for borrowing a pass and screwing yourselves just to save a few bucks? I really don't think it is worth it.

Having said all of that, I highly doubt you will get caught. But ask yourself, is it worth the risk? I don't know how long they would ban you from Squaw for getting caught doing this but I really don't want to find out.
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This why deniability is key.

If you dime out the guy who pass you have, it will very likely impact that person's ability to ski at the resort, as well as yours.

However, If you just fess up to jacking his pass without his knowledge then, the responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders.

In the OP's case, there is very little to worry about, because the original pass holder wont be requiring the pass any longer, so as long as no one rats, it shouldn't impact the original pass holders ability to buy a future pass.

Its rare that the guy caught holding/using the stolen pass will have any issues purchasing tickets in the future. They want your money.

The theft charge and a criminal record are really on the only potential serious consequences in this scenario... but in the context of skiing culture, if you don't the bravado to "walk the line", then you are probably just a Jerry.
 
one of the few benefits of skiing in NY is that they practically never even ask to see your pass, let alone question you if it's you in the picture
 
my freinds brother came home for a week and took his dads pass and printed a photo the same size as the pass photo and then taped it on to it. He had no problems.
 
The one benefit of Midwest skiing. I have been scanned maybe once in the past two seasons.

I would say that you are pretty safe doing what your doing. Just try not to stick out. Always be in a conversation in the lift line. Don't rat out the guy who gave you the pass. If you get caught act dumb but don't be an idiot.
 
13773158:SaturdayCrew said:
my freinds brother came home for a week and took his dads pass and printed a photo the same size as the pass photo and then taped it on to it. He had no problems.
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This shit woulda worked no problamo back in the day, but I would not advise to do this given the current scanning technology. You'll have much better luck flying under the radar without taping over/replacing the pass photo and just trying to act cool and not draw unwanted attention to yourself.

Confidence is key. If anyone doubts you just deny deny deny. Get offended that they are doubting you (the customer/guest).
 
People always ask if me and my brother (2 years younger) are twins. So of course I feel comfortable using his pass. I hope I never blurt out my birthday when asked!

My brother and a friend were at Whistler having just walked from picking up their Edge cards directly to the lift. Cranky liftie (probably from Ontario) immediately asks them "WHAT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY" to confirm identity. When the ink was still drying on their Edge cards!
 
13773700:skiitsbetter said:
People always ask if me and my brother (2 years younger) are twins. So of course I feel comfortable using his pass. I hope I never blurt out my birthday when asked!

My brother and a friend were at Whistler having just walked from picking up their Edge cards directly to the lift. Cranky liftie (probably from Ontario) immediately asks them "WHAT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY" to confirm identity. When the ink was still drying on their Edge cards!
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Had a lifite ask me my address and birthday. Told him I don't announce my personal details in public places like a fucking idiot.
 
13773567:B.Gillis said:
I wouldn't do it if I was you, scanners take their jobs very seriously due to the fact that they get paid a $25-$50 reward every time they catch someone without a pass.

If you get caught they can force you to pay for a day ticket or they can prosecute you for defrauding an innkeeper and then you get hot listed and won't be allowed to buy a day pass or season pass at said resort ever again.

Alot of resorts are also smarter than your average fraud pass user, you tell them your name and you don't know who's pass it is blah blah and they look up your facebook and find out your friends with the person who's pass it is.

Just my two cents, doesn't seem worth the hassle or potential issues you can face if you get caught.
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This!
 
If you get busted, you run and don't get ID'd. The buddy who owns the pass says it was stolen or he left it in a hotel because he knew he wasn't going back
 
13773721:hemlockjibber8 said:
If you get busted, you run and don't get ID'd. The buddy who owns the pass says it was stolen or he left it in a hotel because he knew he wasn't going back
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Running in ski boots? At lots of places they only scan at the bottom of the lift so you can't ski away.

This whole thing is a bad idea. I doubt the op will be caught but if he is the consequences will be much worse than the value of saving a bit of money.
 
13773724:dan4060 said:
Running in ski boots? At lots of places they only scan at the bottom of the lift so you can't ski away.

This whole thing is a bad idea. I doubt the op will be caught but if he is the consequences will be much worse than the value of saving a bit of money.
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i have to agree. doubtful you'll get caught, but some places take this offense very seriously. id say if you go through with it, have a good plan and stick to it re: what story you tell the authority who catches you/wants to know how you obtained the other person's pass

i got caught doing this when i was a teenager at waterville valley and they were livid. it might have been just said to scare me, but they claimed they absolutely would have been looking to arrest me if i wasnt hurt (they noticed the pass wasnt mine when i was getting attended to by medics/patrol)
 
13773740:SofaKingSick said:
i got caught doing this when i was a teenager at waterville valley and they were livid. it might have been just said to scare me, but they claimed they absolutely would have been looking to arrest me if i wasnt hurt (they noticed the pass wasnt mine when i was getting attended to by medics/patrol)
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They were livid because you didn't have a liability waiver (aka a valid pass). By using your friends pass you skated by the legal terms represented by purchasing a day/season pass. They were probably scared you would sue more than anything.
 
13773838:Randy_Quench said:
They were livid because you didn't have a liability waiver (aka a valid pass). By using your friends pass you skated by the legal terms represented by purchasing a day/season pass. They were probably scared you would sue more than anything.
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good point, im sure that's a really big aspect to it
 
It will be fine as long as you follow the same 2 principles that matter in all of life:

1) Don't be dumb

2) Don't be a douche

In other words: don't talk about your BIG SCAM to everyone you meet, don't wear your pass next to your face, be friendly and polite to the ticket checkers and everyone else in the lift line, don't dress like a douche, don't act like a douche, don't be a douche, don't overdo it, don't share the pass with even more people, don't be a douche, don't try to get pass holder perks in the store or cafe, don't frequent the super-popular and crowded lifts, don't brag about it on social media, don't post how well it worked on Newschoolers, don't act nervous, don't...be...a...douche.

And you'll be fine.
 
13773891:cannonballer said:
It will be fine as long as you follow the same 2 principles that matter in all of life:

1) Don't be dumb

2) Don't be a douche

In other words: don't talk about your BIG SCAM to everyone you meet, don't wear your pass next to your face, be friendly and polite to the ticket checkers and everyone else in the lift line, don't dress like a douche, don't act like a douche, don't be a douche, don't overdo it, don't share the pass with even more people, don't be a douche, don't try to get pass holder perks in the store or cafe, don't frequent the super-popular and crowded lifts, don't brag about it on social media, don't post how well it worked on Newschoolers, don't act nervous, don't...be...a...douche.

And you'll be fine.
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Probably just print this out and take it with you to use as a check list.
 
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