Well, this is a situation I hope to never find myself in.
Imagine taking a nice little ski trip up to Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. It’s been a long day on the slopes, you’ve busted your ass a couple times and feel like you’ve been beat with a stick.
You’re ready to hit the lift line for one more run and call it a day…
Until a moose makes its way onto the trail, only a few feet in front of you.
That’s exactly what happened to this guy a few years back, as a young moose wandered onto the trail, right as skiers were making their final turn.
Everything’s all fine and dandy, as all the bystanders waiting to get on the lift looked at the creature in awe.
Of course, the worker there is trying to get everybody going just incase the moose gets pissed off, but nobody listens and everybody keeps filming.
Sure enough, a couple minutes into the video the moose begins to charge the people in the lift line, as well as the workers, and all of a sudden it ain’t all sunshine and rainbows no more.
The man filming the wild event described the event from his point of view in the caption:
“Late afternoon a young moose walked out of the woods and onto the trail. The moose bothered by pesky skiers whizzing by found itself in the que at Glacier Bowl Express lift, mid mountain. At first it was just another novel Alaskan moment.
The sunset had started and to have a moose walking around with the view was fun and a spectacle of sorts. But the skiers kept on doing what they do, skiing into that side of the lift que. The moose was already rather upset and had no great options for movement given the nature of the que and the natural terrain.
Skiers were following the trail around a heavy traffic area into where the moose was standing. The moose decided to defend its ground as moose do and charged. We had people that were not fully aware they were in danger and children in the line to catch the lift when it charged the first time.
The lift operators and patrol responded and removed people best they could, as the moose charged the operators, they ran for their lives. Moose are very dangerous actually and are not afraid to trample and kick a person, easily injuring or even killing the victim.
The moose then charged again before the moose had had enough and could be coaxed out of the area. The moose continued its way down the hill and later I found it near the terrain park heading towards the hotel.
Luckily, no injuries were reported but it was a very memorable occasion for all who witnessed this event. We live in a wild land here, the moose really have the run of the place!”
And unfortunately, it sounds like they had to put the aggressive moose down.
According to KTUU, ski area general manager, Brian Burnett, said the moose charged again, and even kicked an employee. They called Alaska Wildlife Troopers, but then opted to handle the problem themselves.
The young bull was killed and the meat was donated to charity.
A damn shame… I mean, where is the moose supposed to go?
You built a ski resort in its backyard… you got skiers flying past him, steep drop-offs where the runs were carved out… it’s not like he can just walk away.
Nevertheless, a reminder to always keep your distance from an angry moose.
