Vintage Ski Patrol Video Goes Viral For Harsh Punishment Of Lift Poachers
A Mammoth Mountain, CA, lift operations training tape circa 1987 resurfaced on Instagram recently, and it contains footage leading people to reminisce about the good ol' days... They were horrible!
Besides the exclusion of a single snowboarder from the footage, the video instructs lift operators to allow people without a pass to board the lift, because the issue will be dealt with at the top.
The video shows Chair 13, still an iconic lift at Mammoth Mountain to this day. (It is a YAN fixed-grip double-seater, servicing 1,100 meters of vertical. Be still, my beating heart!)
The video shows a suspect going through the lift line, attempting to poach by riding without paying. "If you suspect a bad pass, allow the skier to board your lift, note their chair number, and call lift operations. A supervisor or ski patrol will take care of the problem at the top," the narrator says in a matter-of-fact tone.
In this case, "taking care of the problem" looks like killing the skier for their wrongdoings, a la a Middle Ages style public execution.
The video ends with the skier yelling, "I want to see my lawyer!" In that sense, things haven't changed at ski resorts in the slightest.
People quickly took to the comment section to voice their reactions to the strange and funny "instructional" video, with several people commenting on the skiers-only setting.
"Not a snowboarder in sight, just people living in moment," writes one viewer. "Looks like Alta," jokes another.
Besides the trip back in time when we all skied down on two planks, and no one pushed snow off the trails, what could be worse than a public execution for ripping off your home resort?
The guilt and destruction of your moral compass for stealing, of course.
Related: National Weather Service Releases Storm Totals For Tahoe Ski Resorts
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