How To Get Free Lift Tickets

Learn how to get free lift tickets and you can ski more often. Scoring free passes to the slopes requires perseverance, creativity and sometimes a little hard work.

1. Work for the ski resort. Ski resort jobs come with free lift passes. Sign up for a seasonal job shoveling snow, operating a ski lift or working in the rental office and you'll earn cash and a free pass.
2. Volunteer. Resort volunteers can also earn free passes. You can be a resort host, a guide or volunteer for ski patrol. You can also volunteer for a single day and earn a day pass to use later if you help with events such as Special Olympics, ski races and other resort activities. Some resorts also offer free passes to people who help get the resort ready during the pre-season by cutting brush, packing snow, or other jobs.
3. Enter contests. Radio stations and other businesses may give away free lift tickets to contest winners. Sometimes all that's required is that you be a certain number caller or the first person to tweet something on Twitter. Resorts also give away free passes to a few lucky patrons who take the time to fill out surveys.
4. You can also sign up for drawings for free lift tickets at ski shows and expos. Someone has to win, why not you?
5. Find a friend. Some ski resort jobs comes with not one, but two free lift tickets. Make friends with one of these employees and convince him, or her, to give you their extra ticket.

Don't bother trying to steal or forge a lift ticket. Computerized lift check-ins makes it easy to trace tickets, and many resorts pay bounties to lift operators who catch thieves.