This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Park City • A red, metallic sticker designed to prevent theft is plastered on about 2,000 snowboards or sets of skis.
They're no chain and padlock, but the stickers, measuring about 2 square inches, say "Park City Police." And that may be enough.
Since the Park City Police Department began its ski and snowboard registry in earnest two years ago, no registered gear has been reported stolen. That has police in Utah's best-known ski town claiming some victories against thieves.
If ski gear is not registered, said Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter, "the chances of recovering them are next to nothing."
The police department began the registry to catalog the make, model and registration numbers of ski gear in the event that gear is stolen. The stickers are designed to deter thieves and to make it easy for the police or citizens who find the gear to return it to the owner.
Carpenter acknowledges some victims may not have reported their registered skis or snowboard stolen, but he still believes the zero reports demonstrate effectiveness.
Officer Bill Morris oversees the registry and manually enters submitted information into a department database. Skiers don't have to live in Park City to register their gear. Morris said he has entered gear from as far away as Florida.
Morris' colleagues have taken notice, too. He said the Weber County Sheriff's Office and police in Colorado ski towns have called asking about how to start their own registries.
But the 2,000 skis and snowboards in the registry remain a fraction of the gear in Utah alone. On a recent powder day at Park City Mountain Resort, a Tribune reporter and photographer were unable to find any police department stickers on gear sitting on racks at lunch time. Earlier this month, Morris interviewed a Japanese tourist who had $1,500 in ski gear stolen. The gear was not registered and the owner did not have any serial numbers. Morris told him it was unlikely officers would recover the gear.
A real test of the registry might come when registered gear is stolen and police are able to find and identify the gear and return it to its owner.
"It would be nice if we had some more data, if we recovered some registered skis," Morris said.
How to register your skis and snowboards
Visit parkcity.org and pull down the "I Want To ..." tab to find the registration page.
You also can register your gear in person at the Park City Police Department, 2060 Park Ave. You will need to know the make, model and serial numbers.