Ski Travel Question

This may seem like a bit of an oddball question, but has anyone encountered any problems going through airport security with the metal wickets for attaching lift tickets to your jacket? I just went to Colorado for a ski trip and decided to remove the wickets from last year's skiing. I wanted to minimize possible security hassles. If nail clippers are a concern, seems like the metal wickets would be a similar problem.

I noticed that Breckenridge & Copper now use plastic fasteners for tickets - can't remember if they did that in the past.

I always attach my wickets to a "Quick Link." That way, I can remove them when traveling. Quick Links also make lift tickets transferable.... :-)

"Quick Links also make lift tickets transferable"...
which could also get them confiscated at the lift line for that very reason. Happened to one of our kids who attached the ticket to his gloves! Their thought was he could "transfer" it off the lift to a bud and both ski with 1 ticket. Last time I changed clothes, they insisted on cutting the wire in the office before issuing a replacement (which was no problem...just do it their way). You could always take a chance...but I did have a lift operator at Snowshoe tell me to pack the skis on my back and walk up the f'in hill when I skied down without the ticket (or cash).

I travel all the time and have not had any airport say anything about the wickets. Mine is also obvious because there is a big stack of wickets.

Rich:

I included that line in about transferability to see what kind of reaction I would get. Stowe actually sells a ticket good for two people. The ticket is designed for families with babies. Mom looks after the baby in the lodge while Dad takes some runs and then they switch off. This is cool, and it encourages more people to ski. Also, Mom and Dad inevitably spend lots of $ in the lodge while they anxiously wait for their spouse to finish his or her turns. J

I don't advocate transferring tickets, however, unless a resort authorizes it even though I think it would be in the interest of many resorts to sell a family ticket like the one I mentioned.

I do advocate Quick Links. They allow you to take your tickets off to wash a jacket or to change into another article of clothing. In this climate, I often start out wearing a Gore-Tex shell with a fleece lining and end the day in shirtsleaves or in a Windstopper vest. Quick Links enable me to make quick changes, and that's my argument if I ever get challenged by a lifty.

John

Oh, I've done the same thing using a simple keyring. Glad you reminded me as I'm going out to Aspen in April where I bet there will be a lot of clothes-changing throughout the day. Some resorts are just more prissy about it then others. Snowshoe made my 89 year old mother buy a week-long ticket because we had a condo/ski package and brought her along. She never touched the snow!
Anyway - what's a "QuickLink" and where do you get it.

QuickLink is a great idea for lift passes!
It is like a locking carabiner with a screw gate, but much smaller and cheaper. I use them when I go camping all the time.
Anyhoo... Ski resorts should get a life and get rid of silly cowtags altogether. Europeans have been using chip cards for quite a while, so why can't we?

I found a web site selling quick links - it got good pictures so you can see what they look like. I bought mine at diving store somewhere in FL.

http://www.windycityparrot.com/acatalog/Windy_City_Parrot_Links_of_All_Kinds_3.html

I actually stole a Quick Link from my cockatiel Franz. Most bird toys attach to cage bars with Quick Links, and you can order them from most large pet stores. They are handy for all sorts of things.

John

PS I may give Franz a ski ticket to chew on in exchange for the link. :-)

For years I've attached my ticket to a key ring on my jacket loop,in case a need to change clothing during the day/multiday. Been a few years since I've tried it, but transferred tickets this way also, esp when going with large group, where some only wanted to make a couple of runs. Have sold my partially used ticket a few times when leaving early. The most vigilance I ever saw on this sort of thing was at Hunter Mtn,NY. Once at Hunter, a ticket checker took my ticket off the key ring and put another ticket on me in the traditional way, but didn't make me pay twice. They probably see a lot of NYC streetsmart ticket hustlers at Hunter.