Mammoth Censorship

If you’re reading this very site then it’s possible that you love technology. It’s beneficial to our day to day lives but also in snowboarding. Especially with how we get to visually stimulate our obsession when we can’t ride. 10 years ago how many web edits could you find on the Internet? Now think about how many there are on there today. Huge difference right?

Filmed projects on the Internet have drastically changed the snowboarding landscape. Every day there is something new whether it’s a crappy GoPro dad-cam style edit of friends or a full length flick from Japan or Europe. That’s the beauty of where technology is at with affordable cameras and professional editing software for the masses. Everyone has turned into a filmer doing some sort of project for themselves for whatever reason. Are they all good? Fuck no but whatever tickles their pickle.

So enter a filmer named Greg Weaver working out of the Mammoth area of California. He made a little video using the comedic ramblings of Bill Hicks instead of a musical sound track. Evidently it didn’t go over well with Mammoths higher ups. Here’s an interview with him from Buoloco about the situation. Fair warning there’s about a 10 second audio black out that I feel was highly important but can successfully be gathered from the Bill Hicks Youtube video below.

Now after watching this ask yourself; How would you like to be a paying pass holder at any mountain and have them red flag your pass because of something you filmed and put on the Internet on your own time, not as an employee, and not using any special privilege that they might grant? I doubt you would want that, nor would anyone for that matter. But what Mammoth basically said was hey you know what fuck your money and fuck you we don’t like this! Awesome that’s great, but does it say anywhere on the back of any season pass or waiver signed to purchase a pass at any resort that they somehow own any video or intellectual properties created by a user of their facilities, filmed or captured with their own equipment, and edited on their own time? I would be curious if anyone can point out anywhere in the world any resort that has this in writing as part of a legal waiver. North Korea does not count.

Censorship is nothing new anywhere in the world and right now we the people of the United States have a fight ahead with bills like SOPA and PIP. Guess Mammoth is already taking preemptive measures to support our evil overlords. Or at least they’re just insecure with creative edits (albeit I didn’t see the edit in question).

The real question though is how badly would an edit with some vulgarity used in a comedic tone have hurt them if they had let it run its Internet course? My guess is probably not at all except maybe some over sensitive fluffy-bunny-hugger mom. Think of the children! Now how is this going to effect their business with people talking about how Mammoth will shut your pass off if they don’t like your edit? Hmm that’s something only a bit of time will tell. But talking with one person about it already they’re deciding to spend their money elsewhere with a resort that wouldn’t go to these extreme fascist measures.

So who thinks Mammoth sounds like a fun place to buy a pass to? Curious to hear what you guys as consumers think of this as the cost of snowboarding is expensive to begin with and we have to vote with our wallets.

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