My son (11M) and I (44M) recently booked a trip to go skiing in Colorado. It was my son's first time skiing, but he had seen a lot of skiing videos on YouTube, and he seemed really excited for the trip. We also live in Florida, so this is not the trip you can just go and do whenever you like (we are not rich).
I grew up in Utah and I loved skiing when I was younger, and I would say I'm an expert on the mountain. The first day goes all good, and my son really enjoyed skiing for the first time, even though he fell a lot, lol. I made sure to be as supportive and caring as possible, even when he was struggling, because I wanted to make this as fun an experience as possible for him.
However, on the second day of skiing, he says he's finally ready to ski down the whole mountain, and so we take the lift to the top. Luckily, there was a way to get down the mountain while only staying on green level trails, so we took that way.
My son is having a blast, when all of a sudden, this guy in his 20s careens into my son from behind going on insane speeds, wiping them both out. My son immediately started crying and came running to me after he got his skis off, and once he calmed down, he ran to the lodge where my wife was, and she decided to take him to the doctor's office.
I immediately confront the guy for being so reckless, and he simply says that I should have been paying better attention to my kid, and then he rode off. That was the final straw for me, and I called the ski patrol number in the app and told the guy the situation and what the skier was wearing, and they told me they would find him and kick him out.
Later on, I saw him getting escorted out of the park by two ski patrol officers, and when he saw me, he immediately started cursing me out and calling me a horrible dad. I tried to ignore it, but now I'm second guessing myself if I overreacted. So, AITA?
luluducgirl wrote:
NTA. #1 rule on the slopes is the downhill person in front of you always has the right of way as we don’t have eyes in the back of our heads. I’m 5’2” 115 lbs and my ex had to physically restrain me once from throwing hands at a 6’ tall jerk who ran into one of my kids.
Toomz01 wrote:
NTA. The rule in skiing is the person higher up the hill is the one in control, and therefore the one at fault if an accident happens. This guy wasn't considering anyone else's safety. Skiing is a sport that can absolutely kill you. Him getting kicked off was totally justified, and you might have saved someone else from a worse result. I hope your kid was ok, and this didn't ruin his experience.
thisBookBites wrote:
NTA. Yes, I ski with a lot of kids. Yes, they can be dangerous because they swerve left and right. But when you’re coming FROM BEHIND, you are responsible for not hitting someone. Especially on green trails you have to expect kids.
I would say, however, if you don’t ski yearly and haven’t done it in a while (as it seemed from your story?), you are not an expert.
Knowing the slopes and etiquette are a big part of safe skiing and you miss that information and I have seen this go wrong in the past when I taught kids and we’d run into parents that tried to teach their own kids. If you want to give him a good base, I would recommend some lessons.
Money-Possibility606 wrote:
NTA. Thank you for doing that. This could have been so much worse. It's a green trail. That dude should have known better. I don't even know what he means by you should have been watching your kid...you WERE watching your kid. You watched him get rammed into by this AH. How could you have prevented what happened, at all? He's the guy who came up behind your son, at unreasonable speed.
If you were any closer to your son, you would have been hit too. That guy's just lashing out and refusing to take any responsibility for his actions. You did the right thing. What if he had hit into an even smaller child? You're all lucky this wasn't so much worse.
schannoman wrote:
NTA - as a ski patroller the LAW is that the uphill skier is responsible for avoiding people, to maintain safe speeds, and to remain in control. An accident on the hill has legal recourse and they were actively breaking the law (this law is posted on all of your mountain passes and you agree to adhere to it when you are on the mountain).
It is also the responsibility of the downhill skier to check uphill when merging or beginning their path but this doesn't seem like the case from the description of the accident.
CrimsonKnight_004 wrote:
NTA - Green trails are specifically beginner friendly. Anyone who knows slopes would know that the path will be filled with kids and people still unsteady on their skis. I’ve never even been on the slopes and I know that. He definitely needed to be more mindful, and should’ve had the decency to at least apologize for potentially seriously injuring a kid.
The authorities at the lodge knew he was reckless and dangerous, which is why they escorted him out. He shouldn’t be there if he’s going to endanger other guests, especially kids. They don’t need a walking (well, skiing) lawsuit-int-the-making on the grounds. I hope your son is okay and that this doesn’t turn him off skiing! You’re a good parent.