If you like hyperbole, you’ll love Columbia Sportswear’s latest social media campaign. It is the “best contest ever” to land the “best job on the planet,” and “the most epic ski experience this side of anywhere.” What could possibly be this good?

How about an all-expenses-paid winter at Whistler-Blackcomb for you and your best friend? Transportation, lodging, food, GoPro cameras, season passes and “more Omni-Heat gear than you can shake a Yeti at.” All you have to do is win the video contest.

“We cover all the expenses and we hook you up with our newest gear and our newest technology,” says Columbia’s social marketing manager, Daniel Green. “All we ask of you is that you have an amazing time.”

It’s quite the giveaway from an iconic Oregon company better known for its One Tough Mother than its freewheeling ways. Columbia was founded in Portland by Paul and Marie Lamfrom in 1938 and rescued by their daughter Gert Boyle in 1970. Boyle, the subject of the 2005 book One Tough Mother, still serves as Chairperson of the Board at the age of 89. Her son, Tim Boyle, is CEO. Their company sells more than a billion dollars worth of apparel and accessories per year.

She may be tough, but Boyle has always had a sense of humor, and Green says she knows about the Ski Bum Scholarship campaign, likes it and even makes a cameo in a video promoting the contest.

Good to know that she is also One Open-Minded Mother, because the videos that have been rolling in are not exactly tame. The current frontrunner is titled “Thugstyle” and features two dudes from Arizona urinating into the toilet, chugging beer and destroying their boards in hilarious ways.

Viewers can vote on their favorite videos, but the contestant with the most popular support won’t necessarily win, Green says. The ultimate decision will be made by the people who put the campaign together.

The deadline for videos is December 2, and the grand prize winners will be announced December 20. There will also be tiered prizes for runners up and $250 gift cards for the weekly winners of an Instagram campaign that chooses a theme each week for photo contests. This week’s theme is “long way to the top,” with contestants tagging their best chairlift, climbing, and helicopter photos @Columbia1938 and #SKIBUM13.

This is the second winter that Columbia has offered its Ski Bum Scholarship. Last year’s winner was a self-described “geographically displaced skier” from Knoxville, Tennessee named Rob Wallace. The contest’s website received 85,000 visits over the course of last season’s contest, with 130,000 video views and more than 1300 people sharing on Twitter and Facebook. 350 contestants entered the contest.

But whereas last year’s contest drew from videos shot in a hurry at Warren Miller events, this year’s version requires you to take the time to produce an original video. As a result, fewer people have entered, and the odds of winning are actually surprisingly good. Even if 350 people end up entering as was the case last season, that’s a one-in-350 chance of scoring a winter you will never forget. If you can swing it. Job? What job?

For all the rules and info, check skibumscholarship.com.

Here’s the video Columbia posted to launch the campaign:

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Last modified: November 13, 2013