Snowbasin Resort has issued an apology after video of a verbal confrontation between a couple of speedy snowboarders and a ski patroller became a sensation on the web.

Posted by someone identifying himself only as Garden Stories, the video has attracted nearly 100,000 viewers to Vimeo, according to a graphic on the video-sharing website.

Harassment at Snowbasin from Garden Stories. on Vimeo.

Many of the comments there, and on an apology offered on Snowbasin’s Facebook page, threaten to boycott the Ogden Valley resort because the patroller swore at the filming snowboarder and took away his buddy’s pass for the day for allegedly going too fast in a slow-skiing zone.

"We at Snowbasin Resort had an incident yesterday for which we have received much deserved criticism," said the statement on the resort’s Facebook page. "We are frankly embarrassed by this situation and have taken measures to prevent this type of incident occurring in the future.

"Snowbasin strongly believes in treating all of our guests with respect," it added. "We strive to deserve the respect and exceed the expectations of everyone visiting our resort."

Resort general manager Kent Lyons said later that the patroller’s response did not comply with Snowbasin’s employee guidelines. "Safety is always our top priority at Snowbasin, and we have reliable, proven policies in place to ensure safe conditions and exceptional customer service for all of our guests."

The video, whose sketchy audio feed suggests it was shot Dec. 21, captures a teenage male snowboarder going down a groomed run until he is stopped by a ski school instructor, who says the boarder was going too fast too close to other skiers.

A ski patroller comes up and begins interrogating the boarder while the boy’s friend continues filming. He begins to take the apologetic youth’s pass away for the day, telling him he can get it back the next day, when the voice of the filmer complains, "How are we supposed to know that? We didn’t even get a warning."

The patroller then turns on the filmer, barking that if he wants to keep his pass, then "shut your f---ing mouth." The patroller later apologized after a verbal exchange with the filmer, who had fired back, "You’re harassing us because we’re young. You never tell the ski team to slow down. I get yelled at all the time for going too fast. I’m never going that fast."

Snowbasin’s apology on its Facebook page had attracted 680 comments by 4 p.m. Thursday, many calling for a boycott of the resort and the patroller’s job. Others came to the patroller’s defense before exchanges deteriorated into personal attacks between commenters.

mikeg@sltrib.com