A 22-year-old Australian man has been trespassed from all skifields in the South Island after allegedly using an associate's chairlift pass at Coronet Peak on Saturday.
He faces one charge of obtaining by deception and is due to appear in the Queenstown District Court today.
The man is the first person to face skifield fraud charges in Queenstown and the third in the area this season.
The first two arrests were on July 8 when a 26-year-old English male and a 30-year-old United States male were caught by a staff member at Snow Park in the Pisa Range allegedly using the chairlift without passes.
Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said police were called to Coronet Peak at 3pm on Saturday after the 22-year-old allegedly attempted to use an associate's ski pass to gain access to one of the chairlifts.
"He was subsequently stopped by the chairlift operator and queried about his pass. He was found to be using it fraudulently," Sgt Watt said.
The multi-skifield ban was part of an agreement between Queenstown and Wanaka police, who have taken a zero-tolerance approach to ski-pass fraud and other skifield offences.
NZSki chief executive James Coddington said anyone caught attempting to defraud a ski area would face a two-year ban from "all South Island ski areas".
The bans were introduced in Wanaka and Queenstown by individual operators in 2010.
In September that year, Mr Coddington said 30 people were banned for life from NZSki-owned fields. Coronet Peak accounted for 17 cases, there were seven at the Remarkables and six on skifield transport.
Yesterday, Mr Coddington said the tougher stance and collaborative approach taken by ski area operators was "absolutely" working.
"I think the deterrent of being banned from every ski area in the South Island is a big one.
"It's certainly making people think twice.
"If you think you're going to defraud any ski area, it's a hell of a risk."
