A ski coach with Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club was assaulted at Steamboat Resort on Saturday, resulting in what the victim reported as a “diagnosis of a concussion,” according to police Sgt. Evan Noble. 

The ski coach was instructing kids on a ski jump on the Short Cut run when another skier started arguing with the coach about where he was standing and was “very vulgar,” according to Noble. 

The situation escalated when the skier got into a “yelling match” with the coach. The coach attempted to avoid the situation by “using calmer language” and then removing himself and the kids from the situation by skiing away.

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The skier followed the coach down the hill and allegedly “grabbed him and punched him three times,” causing “injuries that had to be treated,” said Noble. 

After the assault, the coach skied down to the base with the kids and reported the incident to Steamboat Ski Corp. security, according to Noble.

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The Steamboat Springs Police Department promptly posted a photo of the suspect to their Facebook account, asking the public for help identifying the individual. According to Noble, the photo was taken by the victim.

The post initially was updated to state that “all parties involved had been identified.” However, the man was wrongly identified, according to Noble.

“The person who is listed in the report is not the actual person,” said Noble. “At this time, we believe that we now have the right person identified.”

According to Noble, police have not yet contacted the man who they believe is the correct suspect, and officers are “working on a warrant for arrest.”

The name of the suspect has not been released, but Noble added that the suspect owns an Ikon pass. Noble could not confirm where the suspect lives.

According to Noble, the suspect’s correct identity was confirmed through video surveillance, ski pass scans and tips from the public through the social media post.

Noble added that the initial, incorrectly identified suspect was not contacted by police. 

Police decided to post the photo of the suspect because there was not much information to help identify the suspect, according to Noble.

“Social media is great because it reaches a lot of different people,” said Noble. “It’s a very useful way to help identify people. It doesn’t always come down to needing it in every single case, but in this situation, it was a good solution.”

According to Noble, the coach handled the situation “exactly how he should have.”

“These things don’t happen very often,” Noble said. “Parents should feel good knowing that their child’s ski instructor handled the situation exactly how it should have been handled.”