An alleged assault at Northstar at Tahoe in February has led to a social media backlash, but details about the incident remain unclear. Northstar at Tahoe trail map.

On February 25th, an incident occurred at Northstar Resort in North Lake Tahoe between Danielle Muresan-Foster, her nine-year-old son, and an unidentified male in his late twenties. A blog post Muresan-Foster wrote about the incident has ignited a firestorm on social media. But statements released today by Northstar and the Placer County Sheriff's Office offer different sides of the tale.

In a post on her site ShredMom.com titled After Being Violently Assaulted In Front of My 9-Year-Old at Northstar a Vail Resorts Property Northstar/Vail Resorts Protected The Man Who Attacked Me and Punished Me For “Causing” His Behavior, Muresan-Foster, a self-described snowboarding instructor, college soccer referee, writer, photographer and stay-at-home mother of four, described an awful scene that affected herself and her young son, a talented 9-year-old snowboarder whose skills have earned him national and internet fame. She described an altercation that occurred between the male and herself after he rode too close to her son in the halfpipe and she confronted him about the incident in the lift maze at the bottom of the Vista Express lift.

She responded by slapping him in the face, and the man then allegedly punched her with a closed fist in the left eye.

Muresan-Foster alleged that, following a heated verbal exchange in which the male aggressor released a spate of curse-riddled insults, the male rider bumped her in the chest. She responded by slapping him in the face, and the man then allegedly punched her with a closed fist in the left eye. Foster did not seek medical attention that day, and filed a police report the following day after leaving a message with the sheriff's office that evening. She alleged that Northstar employees, as well as bystanders, did nothing to assist in the altercation and even defended the actions of her assailant, and that a group of men in Northstar's terrain park causes issues at the resort that require frequent police intervention. However, statements issued today by both Northstar and the Placer County Sheriff's Office contradict much of Muresan-Foster's initial allegations.

A statement released today by Beth Howard, Northstar's Vice President and General Manager, stated that "On February 25th, at approximately 1:50 p.m., Northstar Ski Patrol was immediately alerted to an altercation at the Vista Lift Maze. Ski Patrol, Security and Mountain Safety promptly responded to the incident and completed an investigation. One eyewitness to the incident stated Mrs. Danelle Muresan-Foster was the party who was physically aggressive toward another guest.

The eyewitness stated that Mrs. Muresan-Foster collided into the male guest in the lift maze from behind; she fell to the ground; and, he tried to help her up. The same eyewitness also stated that Mrs. Muresan-Foster initiated the physical altercation by slapping the other guest. Mrs. Muresan-Foster admitted to the security officer who responded to the scene, a former Sheriff’s officer, that she slapped the other guest.

No witness beyond Mrs. Muresan-Foster reported any physical violence toward her. The investigation also found that the other guest engaged in inappropriate behavior with abusive language. A security officer repeatedly offered at the time of the incident to contact the local authorities for Mrs. Muresan-Foster, however she repeatedly refused. After concluding our investigation, Northstar restricted the skiing/riding privileges of both guests."

Dena Irwin, the Placer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, confirmed with TGR today that a detective had been dispatched to Northstar to investigate the mother's claims about the incident. He is currently conducting a full investigation into the potential misdemeanor assault crime, with tentative results expected to be released next week.

Erwin stated that their office rarely, if ever, is called to Northstar, and they have the records to back up this claim. She did not rule out the possibility that Northstar deals with these problems internally, but was certain they never require a police presence.

While the initial social media backlash followed the publishing of Muresan-Foster's side of the altercation, today's statements from Northstar and the Placer County Sheriff's Office add some complexity and perspective to this developing story, and we await the publication of the initial police report – expected next week – and expect it to shine some light onto what actually happened this fateful February day.