I had this bad experience with ski patrol one time at a ski area in NY with one of their patrolmen a week ago. Here's the story in short:
Myself and my friends were just looking for some untouched powder on an uncrowded open trail right at the top of the summit lift from the bottom of the mountain. At the end of the trail there was a orange rope and a snow gun in the middle of the trail. Unknowingly of me, there was a patrolman who was skiing down to the only obvious trail from the top to the bottom of the mountain. Luckily I was the last one out so I wen t unnoticed by the patrolman. He then started to yell from the top of his lungs at two of my friends who I was skiing with who were the first two out. He kept constantly demanding for their passes, telling them that the trail was closed, but there was no sign or rope across the opening of the trail stating that it was closed. Then another one of my friends put in his two cents toward the patrolman about how he was overreacting and other stuff because I zoned out on part of his statement. Then the patrolman set the first two free and started yelling at another friend, constantly telling him, "COME HERE!" Then another friend said, "Alright, let's bail," and we went down a few hundred yards down the trail and waited for a minute or two and he came down the trail toward us and he said that the patrolman didn't take his pass, yet we were aggravated by the patrolman for the rest of the time I was there.
TL;DR: A few of my friends almost lost their passes because they poached a trail with no closed rope or sign saying it was closed, thus a patrolman's jimmies were overly rustled.