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Students sell Canyons season passes at reduced rates

Patrick Parkinson, Of the Record staff

As the preseason deadlines for ski pass discounts fly by some eyebrow-raising details have been showing up on the online classified site craigslist.

Canyons officials have recruited a team of college students to sell season passes for the resort. Notices on craigslist on Tuesday advertised passes for students and other adults at significantly reduced prices.

"No Brainer" passes, which the resort’s website has priced at $559, were selling for $399 this week.

Some people are complaining that buying their season passes through the ski area cost them more than if they had purchased the items on craigslist. The student sales representatives say the $399 passes are available to those between the ages of 18 and 25. Anybody currently taking at least six credits in college also qualifies to purchase the special pass.

"We have a bunch of kids that are at the universities around the area and they sell the No Brainer passes on their campuses," Canyons spokeswoman Libby Dowd said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "They’re not technically Canyons employees, but they enter this program called the Canyons College Rep Program and then they sell passes and they get a pass for the season."

In a later interview Dowd added, "The College Rep program is specifically designed to help college ski and snowboard clubs attract members and promote the sport to individuals who might not have the opportunity nor the means to enjoy skiing and boarding."

She said she didn’t know the students were marketing the passes online.

"If they are advertising it on craigslist, I don’t know anything about that nor did I take the initiative to push that," Dowd said. "But certainly it would make sense for them to reach out in any way that they can."

One craigslist advertiser in the Park City area said she will be selling discounted season passes through Nov. 12. The woman claimed she has adult full season and mid-week passes available at reduced prices. Adult season passes selling for $1,299 on the Canyons website were advertised for $999.

The seller also advertises Canyons midweek passes regularly priced at $999 for $799 on craigslist.

Dowd said she was not aware that the student representatives were selling adult and mid-week passes at reduced rates.

She said students should only be selling discounted No Brainer passes.


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