An Iowa State professor was injured on the same ski slope which claimed the life of Congressman and former entertainer Sonny Bono on Jan. 5.

Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science, said he spoke to Bono during his family vacation at the Heavenly Ski Resort, located on the border of California and Nevada.

Schmidt said he had spoken to Bono when his son spotted him in a ski lodge earlier that week.

“I passed him at a concession stand and said ‘how are you doing, Congressman Bono?'”

Schmidt said he would have enjoyed a conversation with Bono but felt it wouldn’t be appropriate.

“I don’t usually bother people I recognize,” he said.

Schmidt suffered minor injuries Jan. 3 on the Orion ski run, the intermediate slope where Bono died two days later. Schmidt dislocated his right shoulder when he fell in an awkward position. He was taken by ambulance to the Lake Tahoe Hospital emergency room.

“It was a dumb accident, a freak thing,” he said. “It was a painful injury.”

Schmidt left the resort the day before Bono was killed and said he was surprised when he heard the news.

He added that Bono’s accident seems unusual because a sparse scattering of trees makes Orion a safer run than others at the resort.

“I don’t understand what happened to Sonny Bono. Apparently he was a good skier, so I don’t know what he was doing,” Schmidt said. “Other runs are fairly dangerous; there are other areas with a lot more trees. Orion is a nice, gentle run.”

Schmidt said although he didn’t know a lot about Bono, he now wishes he had taken the opportunity to converse with him.

“Before, my impression of him was that he was just another Republican, but that he was an unusual political figure; most people in show business don’t run for office,” Schmidt said. “[Now] I’ll never get the chance to talk to him again.”