Kicking Asses and Pulling Passes

Although the signs on the mountain say 'Slow Zone - Go Fast - Lose Pass' it is a rarity for us to take passes away for speed alone. In the time I have been here we have only taken a few passes. Most people do something like cut a rope and then give us attitude when we confront them. If people are cool when we stop them, we generally don't do anything unless they did something really bad. Today I pulled my first pass. In the afternoon I was doing speed control at the intersection of Springmeier and Four O'Clock. It had been a pretty busy day (Saturday of President's Day weekend). I was about to leave when I looked to the left and saw a few snowboarders standing around one of our slow signs. They were playing with the sign and trying to take the fabric off of the posts. I couldn't believe my eyes, they were going to steal the sign while I was standing 200 feet away. I should rephrase that: they were going to "try" to steal the sign. So one guy folds up the sign and puts it under his jacket. I start to traverse over to them and they begin to start down the hill. As I get closer I begin to yell at them to stop. There were three of them. I nearly knocked one of them over trying to stop him, but he kept going. I realized that I could only stop one of them if they were going to flee so I chose the guy carrying the sign. I told him to stop and he immediately gave up. He realized that what he did was wrong and that he couldn't get away. I asked him what he was doing and he started to tell me that he was on a scavenger hunt with his friends. They weren't stealing the sign, they were just going to leave it at the base area after they were done. I wasn't buying it. I got his pass from him (a season pass) and made him walk way up the hill to put the sign back. While he was gone my partner who had just showed up called the season pass office to revoke the pass for one week. After that week is over he must come back and talk to us to get the pass reactivated. We gave him his pass back and sent him on his way. The only unresolved issue was the two other "accomplices" in the crime. The guy I almost ran into was wearing a neon green and black camouflage jacket which I knew I would recognize. I skied down to the base area and immediately saw the guy walking down the stairs. I went over and confronted him and got his pass as well. While I was talking to him the third guy walked up, I guess not realizing who I was and what was happening. These guys weren't too smart. I gave them formal warnings since they didn't physically take the sign. If we catch them again doing something wrong they will probably loose their passes for the season. These guys were pretty bad thieves. They did a bunch of things wrong. First they committed their crime while I was standing about 200 feet away. If they had waited 5 minutes I probably would have been gone. Secondly, One guy was wearing easily identifiable clothing which made it so I could catch him later. This is pretty common. Generally people who get in trouble with us are wearing really distinct clothing such that even if they get away, we can identify them later. Third, if you are going to flee, you better leave the mountain as fast as you can rather than hang out at the nearest base area for 10 minutes. It is funny what people think they can get away with up on the mountain. I guess I am here to put everyone in line.