A snowboarder at Breckenridge ski area. (AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post file)

Breck-made parody video mocks smoke shack exposé

It was only a matter of time before somebody strapped on their GoPro and made a parody of the over-the-top “Inside Edition” report that led to the eventual demolition of a beloved smoke shack in the trees of Colorado ski resort Breckenridge.

Breck student/resident Arthur Balluff is that man, and his on-point video — produced entirely in Breck — takes the familiar approach of comparing marijuana’s effects to those of alcohol.


Video: See the original “Inside Edition” report on marijuana on the ski slopes


The video starts with a fake news anchor saying: “Those guys getting drunk on the slopes might be breaking the law — and putting others at risk at the same time.”

And then comes the fake reporter’s dead-on impersonation of the “Inside Edition” reporter’s voice: “We hit the slopes at the world-famous resort in Breckenridge, Colorado. After bouncing down these moguls and gliding through these trees we cruised on a groomer to the base of Peak 8. Down there we found an alcoholic’s haven. This is the grandaddy of bars. And to get there you simply walk from the lift lines.”


Colorado marijuana guide: 64 of your questions, answered


The clever parody sometimes goes take-for-take with the “Inside Edition” report. At one point the fake reporter asks a man and his beer: “How are you feeling? Are you drunk right now?” The gent answers: “I’m drunk right now. I was drunk last night. I was drunk before I got here this morning.”

Instead of asking for pre-rolled joints in the pot shop, as “Inside Edition” did, the fake reporter hits a Breck liquor store and asks, “Do you guys have pre-bottled Fireball?”


Related: Acceptance of pot growing in world of professional snow sports


The video’s worth a view or two. Toward the end, Balluff and his crew run with the popular rumor that “Inside Edition” paid off the two snowboarders who were repeatedly falling in their report. The fake anchor in the parody, thinking he’s off camera, slyly asks: “Hey, did you guys ever pay those kids off? The two snowboarders who kept crashing for us?”

At the end of the video is a loving, if angry, tribute to Leo’s, one of the smoke shacks destroyed by Breck owner Vail Resorts. A script reads: “In loving memory of Leo and the monumental structure built for him. ‘Inside Edition’ is not a legitimate media source” and is accompanied by a chorus of boos and then-and-now photos of Leo’s.