Heavenly – Syndication Server

Snowboarder barely avoids catastrophic collision with bear

Video shows the alarming encounter the snowboarder experienced with a running bear at Heavenly ski resort in Tahoe.

A bear and snowboarder appeared to be on a collision course on the slopes of Heavenly ski resort on Sunday until evasive action was taken.

Ekalak Lakshana was snowboarding in front of his friend taking video footage when the running bear appeared on the slope. Lakshana kept the camera focused on the bear and captured the moment of the close encounter his friend, Hunter Martinez, experienced.

Seeing the approaching bear, Martinez appeared to have slammed on the brakes. The bear looked as if it went behind the snowboard as they came together and disappeared in a cloud of snow.

If there was a collision, it was a minor one, with Martinez quickly popping up and continuing his ride, and the bear running off. As it was, Martinez barely avoided a catastrophic collision.

Lakshana posted video of the encounter on his Instagram page. (Note: On some servers, you might have to click the link to view.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDWMsuAxbin/

“When I saw the bear coming at me, all I could think was, ‘Today is not the day—you’re not catching me,” Lakshana told Snowboarder magazine. “I’ve seen bears near the slopes before, but never one running right in the middle like this.”

As for Martinez, he rode past Lakshana and gave him a fist pump. “So all ended well,” Lakshana told Snowboarder.

Watch: ‘Beautiful’ sight as bears pass beneath skiers on chairlift

Skier who captured the footage says the sighting at Heavenly Resort helped “solidify this place as most beautiful.”

Last week we shared footage showing a black bear sprinting across a ski lift at Heavenly Mountain Resort and nearly colliding with the skier who captured the footage.

On what appears to have been the same day, last Sunday, a different Heavenly skier captured the accompanying footage showing a momma bear and two cubs passing beneath a chairlift.

Nolan Brown stated via Instagram:

“Been skiing Heavenly my whole life, never seen anything like this. From the family of bears and the fog covered lake to the sun peaking over the mountain on first chair, it solidifies this place as most beautiful.”

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A post shared by Nolan Brown (@nolannbrown)

Heavenly is in South Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border. The Sierra Nevada region boasts a large black bear population, but most of the bruins have denned up for the winter by early December.

Watch: Bear charging across snow nearly collides with skier

A skier at Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe on Sunday captured footage of his near-collision with a large black bear that charged in front of him as he descended the slope.

The accompanying footage originally appeared on TikTok via the user, @Tao7570, who shared the clip with ABC 10 News.

The user also shared the footage as a Facebook reel with the description: “Almost hit a bear skiing down Ridgerun [at] Heavenly. Didn’t realize it was a bear until it was too close.”

As viewers can see, the bear is intent on crossing the ski run and has to navigate through downhill skiers and snowboarders. The bear almost collides with the TikTok user, who keeps his camera phone trained on the fleeing bruin.

At no point did the bear act menacingly toward the skiers as it bounded toward and into the wilderness.

Although South Lake Tahoe is famous for its black bear population, most of the animals have denned up for the winter.