Resort to crack down on pass fraud

Get ready to raise your goggles

Tuesday afternoon a college student, after taking a few runs on the hill, found himself at the Mt. Crested Butte Police Department. He was caught trying to ride the Crested Butte Mountain Resort ski lifts with a pass he didn’t own.

“Typically, the person we catch claims the pass owner didn’t know he or she took the pass,” explained CBMR Chief Operating Officer Ken Stone. “So the police ask them why they stole the pass. That usually gets them to admit they were given the pass to use, and that means trouble for both the person using someone else’s pass and the person who owns it.”
Times may be tough but if you think you can save a few bucks by borrowing your buddy’s ski pass to take a few runs on Crested Butte Mountain, think again. CBMR is cracking down on pass fraud and if they catch you trying to scam a pass, they will have you arrested and you will be charged with theft of services. That can lead to a fine of up to $1,000 and possible jail time, and the resort will not sell you a pass for up to three years.
“It may or may not be related to the economy this year, but the perception is that we are seeing more than usual,” said Stone. “We normally start every ski season with a small amount of pass fraud, usually by people who have just moved here for their first winter.”
Stone said that skiers using other peoples’ passes is a problem every year. “Keep in mind the person lending the pass and the one using it will both be held responsible. We will be prosecuting anyone caught trying to use someone else’s pass. The cost of pass and ticket fraud, the loss of revenue and the cost of prosecution of offenders directly effects our pricing each year,” he said.
Stone explained that the company is charged with yielding a certain amount of money from each day. If people are skiing for free by using other people’s passes, the yield goes down and adjustments are made the following year to reach their goal. “It can be a real problem and it costs everyone in their pass prices and the cost of other amenities at the resort,” he said.
Pass fraud takes place at every ski resort. The Aspen Times reports that a woman was caught earlier this month trying to use a season pass owned by her boyfriend to gain lift access at Keystone ski resort. When challenged about her gender after trying to use a pass owned by Nicholas Hemstreet, the woman, Sarah Nicole Fowke, is reported to have informed the lift operator that she was in the process of undergoing a sex change.
“The female stated her parents knew of her sex change, and she stated they disowned her when she told them,” reported the local Summit County Sheriff’s Office after becoming involved. Hemstreet eventually admitted he gave his pass to his girlfriend, Fowke, according to the report. Fowke was arrested and has been charged with theft of more than $500 and criminal impersonation.
The Vail Police Department has already ticketed more than 188 ski pass fraud offenders on Vail Mountain this year.
Stone said no one has used the sex change excuse at CBMR—yet. But he claims that once people realize there are severe consequences to using someone else’s pass, the problem usually dies down.
“On a busy day we can catch five or more people. Once the word gets out that this is a crime and that you can go to court, be fined or lose your privileges for several years, and that we are good at catching people, it slows down the rest of the season.”
Those who are caught are taken to the Mt. Crested Butte Police Department and charged. They are issued a ticket and fined. “People have spent time in jail as a result of this,” said Stone. “Usually they go beyond just theft of services and resist getting caught, but the severity of the fine and other consequences depend on how much they do or do not cooperate.”
So, expect a bit more scrutiny in the lift lines. Checkers will be looking at not just the base area lifts, but also at Paradise, Goldlink and other lifts. Stone said the resort uses various methods to track pass fraud and he wasn’t at liberty to divulge all the methods.
“We will be stepping up our awareness at the lifts and have some ways of checking that go beyond face recognition,” Stone promised. “We will be asking people to please understand if we go beyond the normal checking and ask to raise their goggles to see their face better. After all, the job of the ticket checking staff is to check tickets and passes to be sure they are valid. We are looking for people and we are catching them.”