Industry News
A $10,000 reward is offered for anyone offering information to help identify the hit and run skier that put a 74-year-old lady in the hospital with serious injuries.
Betty Benjamin was skiing in the China Bowl area of Vail Mountain, CO, at 2 pm on January 6th, 2021, when she was hit straight on by a teenage male on skis. She is currently recovering in hospital with a collapsed lung and every one of her right-hand side ribs broken. Her brother, Jim, is offering the reward.
Another member of the group, Gwen Hoover, witnessed the accident and described what happened to Vail Daily:
…the skier, a male teenager of average height and build, hit her full speed after straightlining a run in the Poppy Fields area of China Bowl. The skier was likely coming from Poppy Fields West; she and Benjamin were coming from Poppy Fields East, and the collision happened in the area where the two runs meet. He hit her with the front part of his body, straight on.
– Gwen Hoover, witness
It is illegal under Colorado law to leave an accident scene without first giving your name and address.
“No skier involved in a collision with another skier or person in which an injury results shall leave the vicinity of the collision before giving his or her name and current address to an employee of the ski area operator or a member of the ski patrol.”
– Colorado ski law
With RFID at every lift and what will have been a small mid-week crowd, Vail Resorts should be able to narrow down potential skiers in the area at the time, should they choose to help.
