Originally Posted by
alpinepronghorn
This thread reminds me of a couple of stories...
First, my brother got hit when he was around 6 or 7; I think we were at Stowe. Guy comes down, out of control, skis across Ben's skis and knocks him down. This guy almost looses it, keeps it together, and skis away, not even bothering to check to see if my brother's ok. My mom (who, incidentally rips: Masters racer, former NH high school champion) checks to see that my brother's ok, and then charges after this guy, catches him at the lift line, and proceeds to rip him a new one. The whole maze gave her a round of applause.
On the other side of the coin, my greatest fear nearly came true two years ago at Alta. With all the snow we had that year, the rock band between Cecret Saddle and the sugarloaf lift line had filled in to produce a nice kicker. I'd been airing it all season, but this time launched about five seconds before a kid and his mom skied into the landing zone. Airborne, with nowhere to go, I just pulled my skis as far in as I could, and landed a yard or two ahead of them. Everyone was safe, but the adrenaline didn't go away until halfway through the next run. I didn't hit that one blind again.
I'm just glad I made it through the pre-helmet years as a kid without getting nailed...