As it has been many years since we have been anywhere to ski, I wondered what the typical ski lift pass looks like or works nowadays?

In the old days, a simple ticket on a lanyard which you had to fumble about and show to the lift attendant. However, both Mrs B and B Jnr’s new jackets have pockets on the lower sleeves for passes.

How do they work nowadays?

Thanks!

Mostly RFID, put your pass in a pocket on your LHS somewhere, most machines aren’t that fussy with where it is.

Turnstyle opens and lets you through.

Pass just looks like a credit card sized card.

Where are you going?

Normally a credit card sized thing with some kind of chip embedded (I guess) and you just hold your sleeve up to the gate and it lets you through.

yeah, (left) sleeve is best – unless you like doing a funny dance and then rubbing yourself suggestively against the receiver panel, in which case hip pocket on the right 🙂

Depends on where you’re going. Most of the Alps, as above. The 4 North American places I’ve been to all had something more like your previous experience, or a barcode scan, at the ‘gateway’ lift and then no further checks once away from there. At Glenshee it’s a visual check of a pass at every lift.
Even if it’s an RFID system, in a lot of cases a photograph is taken as you pass the barrier and may be compared with a stored photo to prevent swapping/sharing of passes. This may be an issue if you don’t keep track of which pass is who’s in the morning.

Even if it’s an RFID system, in a lot of cases a photograph is taken as you pass the barrier and may be compared with a stored photo to prevent swapping/sharing of passes. This may be an issue if you don’t keep track of which pass is who’s in the morning.

with goggles and helmets? how much face is there to recognize, and people my wear/buy different coats, or go for bobble hat and sunglasses on some days?

What I have seen though, is there must be a light or some signal that a ‘concession’ pass is being used. Saw a guy nearly rugby tackled by the lifties for apparently using a kids pass. Luckily they managed to sort it out as his son (they’d switched passes by mistake) was right next to him. If he’d gone out on his own while his lad was in ski school it might have been more of a problem!

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with goggles and helmets?

Yes, I’m pretty sure there are cameras on some/all of the 3 Valleys lifts. If you look in the huts you can see photos on computer screens.

Some of the photos are “un-goggled” so I guess depending on how/where you buy your pass some places take your photo.

https://www.skidata.com/en/products-services/products-for-mountain/access-readers-turnstiles/freemotiongate/

Most lifts have the reader on the left so you can simply put the card in your pocket on the left side or a lot of the newer jackets have a ski pass holder on the left sleeve. The bigger resorts (at least in Austria) also take your photo if you buy a week long pass to stop people sharing lift passes. They still need someone at the lift station checking the camera screens to the photo. AFAIK it’s not automatic recognition systems that they have at the moment and in my experience no one ever checks.

Keep any other RFID passes away from it
Keep your mobile (if it’s switched on) away from it as well….

Credit cards etc are near field so shouldn’t be a problem unless you go right up and tap within cm or two, plus the protocols have stuff for collision detection, so can distinguish the cards. Still though it’s often a dance at the turnstile to try to get it to register. You shouldn’t actually need to wave yourself at them at all, just pass through but many of the readers or cards are flakey.

North America varies a lot and some resorts have them, some use bar codes, some still just the sticky thing and lifty inspecting it. The rfid stuff can also vary on the side. Some work both, some only one side and can vary which between resorts. A few insist they must also be visible despite rfid, so on a lanyard or clear pass holder pocket thing. And week or season passes might require a photo.