This story took a weird-ass turn …

UPDATE: Remember this story below? From what seems like forever ago?

Snowboarder Seth Beckton was having a heady day full of gnar-carves and nipple-deep pow when he got into an argument with a skier on a lift. The conversation went south, quick, and Beckton was shoved off the chair and fell some 20-25 feet to the snow below. He was alright, but later took to Facebook to air his frustrations about it (see screen grab below). An investigation ensued and a culprit was eventually caught.

Here's where shit gets weird:

Thomas Proesel, the man now exonerated of shoving Beckton from the lift, plead not guilty by reason of insanity against the charges. His lawyer, Pamela Mackey, entered the plea on behalf of her client. Her name might strike a familiar chord, as she also defended Kobe Bryant on his rape charge, Lance Armstrong on some other bullshit and Don Vito after he got caught groping teenagers in Lakewood. 

The kicker? Proesel beat the charge.

Of the resolution, Aspen District Judge Chris Seldin stated: "It's clear … that Mr. Proesel was, at the time of the incident, experiencing a mental state that rendered him incapable of forming the culpable mental state." He then ordered Proesel to turn himself in to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.

This would all appear to be the end of the snowboarder's saga — things could have been much worse. But it goes to show that life can quickly turn on you, even if you're just out trying to enjoy the pow on a nice day with everyone else.

Life, it's stranger than fiction …

Thomas Proesel via Aspen Times

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Previously posted on 01.20.2016

Aspen snowboarder Seth Beckton says that he was shoved off a chair lift this weekend by a skier who was offended by a comment he made about "fresh powder."

Apparently, the two argued viciously over "which style created the best powder shot." Infuriated that Seth didn't agree with his argument that skiing made the largest powder plume, the skier decided Seth had to die and shoved him off the lift.

Ironically, Seth fell 20-25 into the very same fresh powder he'd previously insulted just seconds earlier. Thanks to the incredible freshness of the fresh powder, he wasn't injured. He didn't immediately report the the incident because he "didn't want to ruin his powder day."

…  As if the ruinous part would be telling someone you were pushed off a chair lift, not the actual fact that you were pushed off a chair lift. Anyway …

It wasn't until the next day when the freshy powder face shots wore off that he told his friends about his little brush with death. It was then that he realized the severity of the situation, and alerted authorities.

Said authorities told the Aspen Times they might have had better luck finding the skier if they had known about the incident earlier … but again, once-in-a-lifetime-pow, brah.

The sensitive skier is described by Beckton as wearing "gray pants, a two-toned jacket that was partially burgundy colored and partially tan, a silver Giro helmet and older Smith goggles," so if you see anyone in that getup on the slopes this weekend, do not engage him in a conversation about light, fluffy snow if you want to live.

Well, it's been pretty quiet on the skier vs. snowboarder war front lately as the two battling factions have seeming learned to live in tenuous harmony with each other. However, we think this incident may have opened up some old wounds, and Seth's powdery pow incident may have been just the war cry these snow sports bros needed to mount an attack. One can only hope that the fresh powder of the Rocky Mountains is soothing and fresh and powdery enough to keep the peace in this bloody rivalry. Pow out.