Aspen, CO – A 22-year-old Snowmass employee was found not guilty on criminal charges stemming from an on-slope collision while snowboarding at the Colorado resort in March.

Travis Luffman, whose permanent address is in North Carolina, was riding on break from his job but was still wearing his Aspen Skiing Company uniform when he collided on March 12, 2011 with a 7-year-old boy vacationing from Brazil. After he was first cited with a violation of the Colorado Skier Safety Act, a conviction under which carries a civil fine of up to $1,000, prosecutors instead charged Luffman criminally with reckless endangerment and third-degree assault following the crash, which left the boy hospitalized overnight at Aspen Valley Hospital. The boy’s family had been videotaping him when the incident occurred and captured the collision on camera, and that tape was shown to the jury during Luffman’s trial.

Prosecutors alleged that Luffman launched himself off a blind knoll on the resort’s Cabin Run, designated with a blue square near the base of the Coney Glade chairlift. Pitkin County Court Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely refused to allow witnesses called by Deputy District Attorney Richard Nedlin, a police officer and Snowmass’ head of ski patrol, to offer their opinions about the crash, citing a pre-trial order regarding witness disclosures that Fernandez-Ely says Nedlin failed to comply with.

The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before finding Luffman not guilty. Neither the boy nor his family attended the trial.