Then 7, Scott was skiing slowly and in control when he tried to pass David J. Pfahler, said his father, Robb Swimm, who witnessed the crash.

Almost eight months later, the 8-year-old and his father were named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging that Scott collided with Pfahler at Arrowhead Mountain Jan. 12.

“It wasn’t a violent collision or anything, Scott just kind of tapped his ski boots,” said Robb Swimm, who has lived in the Vail Valley with his wife, Susan Swimm, for 17 years.

Pfahler, 60, of Allentown, Penn., tore a tendon in his shoulder in the collision and is suing for physical therapy expenses, vacation time and other expenses, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado.