Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash trial: Actress accused of slamming so hard into 72-year-old man she 'bounced off him'

Gwyneth Paltrow has been accused during her ski crash trial of slamming so hard into a 72-year-old retired optometrist she "bounced off him".

The Oscar-winner was in court on Tuesday (March 21) for the first day of courtroom proceedings over the 2016 accident on the slopes, with the actress, 50, facing an allegation from Dr Terry Sanderson she left him with permanent brain damage after she allegedly struck him and fled at Deer Valley Resort in Utah.

Greg Ramone, 58, from Salt Lake City took to the stand as he was skiing with Gwyneth's alleged victim Dr Sanderson when the collision happened and was the only person to see the entire thing.

He told jurors: "We were skiing down the run and then I heard this scream. I looked over and I see this skier just slam into the back of Terry.

"She slammed him. Very hard. She hit him directly in the back. The tips of his skis go out and he goes face down, spread-eagle, with Gwyneth on top of him. There was about a second or two.

"Terry stops, then Gwyneth slid down to the right side. She bounced off of him."

Gwyneth has claimed she was hit by former army optometrist Dr Sanderson and has accused the former medic of attempting to "exploit her celebrity and wealth".

During his opening statement on Tuesday, her lawyer Stephen Owens said she was left bruised and upset by the smash and screamed "What the f***?" at Dr Sanderson.

But Ramone said she stayed silent after the crash before "bolting" down Bandana Mountain.

He also claimed her ski guide Eric Christensen said to him: "Gwyneth Paltrow took out your buddy."

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Ramone added: "When I got there, I was asking Terry, 'Are you ok?' His face was down in the snow and he wasn't moving.

"Then Gwyneth gets up and I was asking her if she was ok. I asked if she was ok and she just looked at me. She was standing up, she got up pretty quick… I was going to go down and check on her and then she bolts — just goes straight down. There's a guy and a kid with Gwyneth and they stop above Terry — about 20 to 25 feet up.

"Then the adult comes by just giving me a dirty look and then they both took off after Gwyneth."

Gwyneth — whose kids Apple and Moses were eleven and nine respectively at the time of the incident — was also said in court to have been distracted on the slopes by one of her children yelling: "Mommy, Mommy watch me ski," before the crash.

The actress, her husband Brad Falchuk, 52, and the two children she had with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin — Apple, now 18 and 16-year-old Moses — will all testify in the trial in Park City, Utah.

Gwyneth is counter-suing Dr Sanderson, who wants US$300,000 (S$401,070) in compensation for his apparent brain damage after the collision, and says she wants "symbolic damages" of US$1 plus her legal fees.

ALSO READ: Gwyneth Paltrow sued by man who says she crashed into him while skiing 3 years ago