Sparky

Ski pass fraud has more than doubled this season on Vail Mountain, according to the Vail Police Department.

Vail police caught 133 people fraudulently using a ski pass this season, compared with last year’s total of 64, according to the Vail Police Department.

The increase has been attributed to improved training for scanners and larger photos, both of which are responsible for preventing more people from going skiing with someone else’s season pass.

”What’s your birthday?”
Just to keep season pass holders on their toes, ticket scanners also sometimes quiz skiers on personal information such as a birth dates and addresses that appear on their electronic scanner’s display.

More importantly perhaps, Vail has taken a lesson from British traffic wardens and gives its employees a financial incentive of US$60 for each fraudulently used season pass they detected.

“deceptive use of a ski facility”
Some groups of people split the cost of a lift ticket and make it to the Back Bowls one-by-one by sharing the ticket, an ex-liftie said. If caught, those people also would be ticketed for “deceptive use of a ski facility” — as it’s officially called.

The fine for the infraction varies widely. Judges have fined offenders between $75 and the maximum $999.

[Source: Vail News]