Father Reports Guy Who Knocked Over His Skiing Son — and the Stranger Calls Him a ‘Horrible Dad’
“I tried to ignore it, but now I’m second-guessing myself if I overreacted,” the dad pondered on Reddit
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A fallen skier (stock image)A dad is second-guessing an icy encounter with a fellow skier, whom he said was skiing at “insane speeds” when he crashed into his preteen son.
The 44-year-old father shared a post on Reddit’s “Am I the A------” forum to recount his Colorado ski trip and the unfortunate collision between his 11-year-old son and the 20-something stranger that ended up “wiping them both out.”
“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,” the man, who grew up skiing in Utah, began his post. “We also live in Florida, so this is not the trip you can just go and do whenever you like (we are not rich).”
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A dad and son skiing (stock image)“The first day goes all good, and my son really enjoyed skiing for the first time, even though he fell a lot, lol,” the dad continued. “I made sure to be as supportive and caring as possible, even when he was struggling, because I wanted to make this as fun of an experience as possible for him.”
What happened next — while the young boy was giddily skiing down the mountain on a green trail — derailed their father-son bonding time.
“My son is having a blast, when all of a sudden, this guy in his 20s careens into my son from behind going insane speeds, wiping them both out,” the dad explained. “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,” he added.
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Two men arguing (stock image)Once alone, the father approached the “reckless” skier.
“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,” the dad recalled. “That was the final straw for me.”
The father proceeded to call the ski patrol to report him.
“They told me they would find him and kick him out,” he said. “Later on, I saw him getting escorted out of the park by two ski patrol officers ... 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.”
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The dad then asked Redditors, “[Am I the a------] for calling ski patrol on a guy after he hit my son with his skis?” Within two days, his post received more than 350 comments, with most agreeing he’s “NTA [not the a------].”
“Green trails are specifically beginner friendly,” one person replied. “Anyone who knows slopes would know that the path will be filled with kids and people still unsteady on their skis. … The authorities at the lodge knew he was reckless and dangerous, which is why they escorted him out.”
“I hope your son is okay and that this doesn’t turn him off skiing! You’re a good parent,” the person reassured the original poster.
Another Redditor thanked the dad for reporting the speeding skier.
“NTA. Thank you for doing that,” the Redditor wrote. “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 a------. 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,” the reader continued. “You did the right thing. What if he had ran into an even smaller child? You’re all lucky this wasn’t so much worse.”
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