Moose chases snowboarders down slope after tourists crowded it, Colorado video shows
A snowboarder captured the intense moment a bull moose chased her group down a ski slope in Colorado.
Lo Husen says she and her group were finishing up a day of snowboarding at Breckenridge by riding a run into town in lieu of taking a gondola because of the long line, she says in the video posted to YouTube and Instagram on April 14.
As they approached the fork in the trail where they would turn left down to their car, “a massive bull moose was walking up the ski run toward us,” she says in the video.
They turned right to stay out of his way, but then they ran into a “traffic jam of tourists” and got trapped between the traffic jam and the moose, Husen says.
“We warned them to move and that none of us were safe here, but they ignored us,” Husen says in the video. “That’s when I started filming. The situation quickly turned dangerous as the moose charged.”
The video shows Husen and her group scrambling to get going down the slope as the moose charges up behind them.
“It’s charging!” someone yells in the video as the rest of the group yells and struggles down the slope to get away from the moose.
“We managed to escape down the hill, but I could hear his galloping hooves getting louder behind me as he got closer,” Husen says.
The video then shows the moose barreling full speed toward them. Husen started losing speed when her group reached flat land, so she “dove headfirst” into a bush and bailed, she says in the video.
The video cuts out before she bails, but when she starts filming again the moose is seen running down the slope past them. Her husband outrode the moose all the way to town, she says.
Husen says the lucky encounter inspired her to start a mountain lifestyle brand that seeks to preserve the integrity of natural places and promote responsible outdoor practices, proper wildlife etiquette included.
“We got lucky this time,” she says in the video. “It was a scary experience that could have been avoided if people had just respected the moose’s space.”
What to know about moose
Moose are protective animals and will defend their territory and their young.
If someone encounters a moose, they should give it space to leave, wildlife officials said. People shouldn’t try to haze a moose to move out of the way.
Wildlife officials said people should do the following if a moose charges:
Run away quickly
Put a tree, rock or other large object between them and the moose
Get up quickly if knocked down
Report the incident to wildlife officials as soon as possible
This story was originally published April 18, 2023 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Moose chases snowboarders down slope after tourists crowded it, Colorado video shows."
