Skier-Snowboarder Animosity at its Worst

[ski diva]

This is pretty horrifying and scary:

Skier Shoves Snowboarder Off Chair @ Aspen Highlands.

(Hey, I just noticed: this is my 13,000th post!)

 

[bounceswoosh]

I don't see any evidence of skier vs. snowboarder here, and don't see any reason to make it so. This is a pretty clear case of assault.

 

[contesstant]

And he didn't file a report. Me suspicious about the whole thing.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I don't find it suspicious - I just don't think it's about skiers vs. snowboarders.

 

[contesstant]

I cannot fathom NOT reporting being shoved off a chairlift from 25 feet until the END of the day?? Something's fishy about the whole story.

 

[ski diva]

I cannot fathom NOT reporting being shoved off a chairlift from 25 feet until the END of the day?? Something's fishy about the whole story.

Yeah, I kind of agree with this. And whether it was skier vs. snowboarder or not, it's still just awful.

 

[DeweySki]

The first comment I ran across on FB was also calling this a fake story, perhaps just publicity for upcoming X games.

I don't doubt that this could happen though. After witnessing flying tempers this weekend from tourists + poor mountain conditions + only two lifts running because of wind hold, nothing seems out of the realm of possibility to me.

 

[Christy]

I don't think that is too strange. For a variety of reasons a lot of people don't report crimes of all kinds, from rape to vandalism/car break ins. My friend was just randomly bitten by a large dog when he was just walking by but he didn't report it because he didn't think anything could be done. Of course, there's no way to know if his version of events is right, but I can easily imagine someone not reporting this.

 

[contesstant]

After reading the story in the Aspen Times, it supposedly happened near the top of the lift AND there was another skier on the same chair, yet nobody on the chair BEHIND them as witnesses, and the lift operator didn't have time to stop it to nab the guy??? Also, no comment that the lift operator even saw it. So, 3 guys get on the same chair which would indicate a lift line, yet nobody on the chairs behind (you can see quite a ways ahead on a chairlift) to corroborate the story?? Too many things don't add up.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Looks like they may have identified the skier

https://www.powder.com/stories/news...n-highlands/?sf19300071=1#J5CLgAWJ4ishtKtX.97

 

[bounceswoosh]

My friend was just randomly bitten by a large dog when he was just walking by but he didn't report it because he didn't think anything could be done.

In that particular scenario, I would be worried about reporting because it might (would probably) lead to the dog being euthanized. Which now that I think of it comes with all sorts of moral implications - what if say a small child were bitten by that dog because I never reported it - but anyway, yes. All sorts of reasons. I can see being shaken up but wanting to keep skiing/boarding. I can also see actually being in shock and making irrational decisions, or different decisions than one would when fully mentally sound.

 

[Skier31]

If the guy wasn't hurt, I can see him not reporting it.

When I was in college, I was in a hurry to get somewhere. I was taking a shower and a guy came in the women's showers. I told him to get out and took a swing at him as he walked toward me. He left. I was in such a hurry I totally forgot about it until someone mentioned that it had happened to another girl on the same floor. The mind is a funny thing.

 

[ling]

I once saw a boarder dude jump/fell from a couple of chairs ahead of me. He didn't seem to be harmed (got up, dusted himself off and slide away). Though odd, I never thought of reporting it.

If he jumped, I couldn't identify him. If he was pushed, he didn't seem too angry. So not a lot to go in the report.

 

[contesstant]

See, I just truly have no concept, ZERO, of being PUSHED off a chairlift and not reporting it immediately. If one was in such a state of shock, how could they possible keep riding?

 

[ling]

Adrenalin does strange things.

 

[bounceswoosh]

See, I just truly have no concept, ZERO, of being PUSHED off a chairlift and not reporting it immediately. If one was in such a state of shock, how could they possible keep riding?

A few years ago, I hit the back side of a compression coming out of some trees. Pretty much saw tweetie birds circling my head, but shook it off and kept skiing all day. It didn't occur to me until the next day that my irritability and difficulty concentrating were from a concussion.

 

[altagirl]

Adrenalin does strange things.

Concussions too (which often go undiagnosed and unreported). I know people who have gotten up and kept skiing and later didn't even know where they were, how they got there or if they were with anyone. I've gotten up and kept riding my bike when I couldn't see out of 50% of one eye and honestly didn't notice at first and then was inexplicably unconcerned about it.

It's could still just be something else entirely, too. I also know a 50-something guy who no one quite knows what went down on the chair, but he got off the lift, got in a fight with the couple who were on the chair with him and got arrested for assault. He said they were just "crazy"... but couldn't even explain what they were fighting about. Fishy.

I guess sometimes bizarre things just happen.

 

[contesstant]

I guess I just still can't comprehend except that we're all different. When I get an adrenalin rush that puts me in hyper-protective mode, I get extremely angry. I mean EXTREMELY. So I'm pretty sure I would have gone into a major fit of rage and found patrol right away. Either that or balled up in a pile of tears and not moved.

Regardless, if this truly DID occur, there are no words for someone actually doing that. I mean WOW.

 

[Sheena]

I read this yesterday. I agree that it seems a bit suspect. I guess it gives a whole new meaning to no friends on a powder day.
















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[num]

I feel like it could be real or bs. Some people out there are pretty crazy, and crazy can take the form of pushing people off chairlifts, or it could take the form of making up stories about being pushed off chairlifts. Since I don't actually have any knowledge to the contrary, I give the benefit of the doubt to the snowboarder that he's telling the truth.

I don't think that is too strange. For a variety of reasons a lot of people don't report crimes of all kinds, from rape to vandalism/car break ins. My friend was just randomly bitten by a large dog when he was just walking by but he didn't report it because he didn't think anything could be done. Of course, there's no way to know if his version of events is right, but I can easily imagine someone not reporting this.

I totally agree that the delayed report isn't really strange.

I've been in plenty of situations where I've experienced something that was not cool, didn't report it/went about my business, and later when telling the story to friends they ask if I reported it and urge me to do so. Maybe the boarder did the same, and later reported it after being encouraged to do so. Or maybe he just thought on it some more and decided to he should report it. Either way wouldn't be fishy to me.