Vail Ski Resorts Crack Down on Pass Fraud
Feb 08, 2007 · 04:20 PM · permalink
Both Vail Daily and the Denver ABC affiliate report that number of people busted for using ski passes fraudulently at Vail resorts has jumped substantially since last year. Sounds like Vail’s PR department is making a preemptive strike against spring breakers.
The number of convictions for pass fraud has increased by a factor of ten over the same period last year and can apparently be attributed to increased efforts by Vail’s ticket scanners who receive a financial incentive for catching cheaters.
It was not so long ago that it was prohibitively expensive for most locals to ski regularly. It’s only in the past ten years or so that the cost has come down with the introduction of inexpensive deals like the Vail five-mountain pass and the Rocky Mountain Super Pass. These passes are amazing deals when you consider how costly it is to run a ski resort, but they are not profit-rich—the main benefit to resorts is when a pass skier buys a meal, parking, or a pair of goggles on the mountain. They also hope that pass users will turn into proselytizers for their resort.
So when a cheat uses a pass fraudulently, they aren’t merely stealing from a resort, they are reducing the overall financial benefit to that resorts of having inexpensive passes. No matter how large, resorts are providing a valuable service and have a right to be paid for it, but it’s people who buy their passes fair-and-square who ultimately pay for cheaters in higher prices, more stringent limitations, and even discontinuation of these programs.
I say congratulations to Vail for nailing pass cheaters.
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