Ski Patrol Confronts Young Skiers, Pulls Their Season Passes

Have you ever had your pass pulled? I hate to admit it, but I've gotten pretty close as a kid. Ditching gate training to go off in the glades with your friends and get up to no good seems really cool when you're younger, but as an adult, I love ski patrol!

Lapping the singles line, I'm always stoked to get put on a chair with someone wearing red. It's a great opportunity to ask them about the terrain and conditions, because they know more than I do on any given day, for sure.

However, not all Ski Patrollers are chill.

At Holiday Valley Resort in New York, Safety Patrol really sucked the fun out of safety a few years back, reminding us all to treat others with respect and remain calm when dealing with misunderstandings.

Two skiers pull into a glade with no clear markings, ready to enjoy the tight tree lines in store. Then, all of a sudden, a voice rings out: "Guys, that's closed, take your skis off!"

The kid skiing, Jared, whose POV it is, stays calm and helpful. "It's closed? There's no sign over there, by the way."

Both kids complied and took their skis off, expecting to walk out of the trees and back to the trail.

"All the trees are closed."

Then, another Patroller asks, "how long have you guys skied here?" A common psych-out tactic usually administered by either someone with an ego problem, or a tourist hoping for tips.

If I had a dollar for every time someone on the lift asked "where are you from?" or something along those lines, 9 times out of 10 it ends up being someone from out of town who is on a ski vacation and I'd end up richer than Scot Schmidt being offered 100$ per line to ski Palisades on camera.

The Patroller presses on, "it hasn't changed. When you guys come, this is all closed. He's going to write you up a warning," the Patroller motions to his partner.

But then, the Patroller made both kids give up their passes and "ski for the rest of the day" but were told to get their passes back from the office a week from the offense.

The Patrollers said they would also put their warning tickets on file and if the kids continued to disobey signage (which they didn't).

While people continued pouring through the woods, the Patrollers held the kids up and really put some rage back into the youth!

However, since a POV was being recorded the entire time, the kids simply marched into the Safety Office and got their passes back immediately.

The manager reviewed the footage and gave the kids their rightful passes.

I've definitely had moments of indecision, like yesterday afternoon when I thought I had one more Reverse Traverse off Siberia in me, and then right when I pulled up to the spot where you bootpack up a short hill, Ski Patrol hung the "closed" sign.

It was a shot to the heart, but I respectfully skied down the little bowl and had a mellow last run instead of getting to do a chute (sort of relieving, honestly).

But reviewing this footage, who's in the wrong here?

The kids were pretty dang polite, given the situation.

Holiday Valley Stats/Info:

Vertical: 750 ft.

Skiable Terrain: 1400 ac.

Average Snowfall: 180 in.

Lifts: 13

Trails: 60 (with 39 night trails)

Snowmaking: YES

Night Skiing: YES

Related: Ian Punnett Wins Holiday Valley Jib Academy

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