Tense Video Shows Skier’s Close Encounter With Bear on the Slopes
Skiers at luxurious California resort Heavenly were treated to a very authentic run down the slopes when a young bear darted through several lanes of speeding humans. TikTok user @tao7570 grabbed video of the astonishing close call last weekend in Lake Tahoe.
The bear can be seen almost tentatively looking both right and left before making a break for it across Heavenly’s Ridge Run. As it tears against traffic across the mountain, most of the skiers seem blissfully unaware of its presence. The videographer nearly collides with the bear, but they just manage to clear one another.
@tao7520 reported in the video’s caption that he “didn’t realize it was a bear until it was too close” to him. Luckily, he managed to get an astonishingly close shot of the cub in the process, tracking it off the slope and down a snowy bank.
Almost hit a bear skiing down ridgerun Heavenly. Didn’t realize it was a bear until it was too close #Tahoe #LakeTahoe #tahoelife #travel #heavenly #ski #bear #wildanimals
Asking to be credited via his TikTok handle, @tao7520 told ABC10 that he indeed felt lucky for having avoided any incident with the bear. He was heartened, too, seeing the cub reunite with its mother and sibling on the other side of the trail. Instagram user Nolan Brown captured footage of the sweet reunion from the relative safety of a ski lift.
Peter Tira, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the outlet that it’s fairly common to spot bears on ski trails. “It’s prime bear habitat and we see bears at the ski resorts there quite often—usually because of the access to food and garbage that’s available sometimes,” he explained.
“Bears that continue to find and access unnatural, human-provided food sources like garbage, bird feeders, pet food, and other human attractants may bypass [hibernation] altogether and stay active through the winter,” Tira cautioned. “This can create a reliance on human food that can be harmful for bears.”
Bears have had a busy year invading human spaces. In September, Disneyworld was partially shut down after a bear made its way into the park. Last summer, beachgoers in Florida captured wild footage of a bear frolicking in the waves of a crowded beach.
