Talk about a close call.
This black diamond ski slope located at the Red River Ski and Summer Area in Red River, New Mexico is known for its scenic views and – forgive me for saying this – gnarly powder. I’m not a skier, nor have I have hit the slopes, but one of my life goals is to ski down a mountain and then tell someone at the bottom, “That was some gnarly powder.” This location seems like the perfect place to do that.
And for those that aren’t super knowledgeable on ski slope classifications, a run being labeled as a black diamond means that it boasts a difficulty that’s only recommended for expert skiers. In other words, a black diamond slope is hard enough to traverse as it is, and adding a clueless deer into the mix only makes it that much for challenging.
A ski patroller that was speeding down the black diamond run at Red River Ski and Summer Area looked to be on a literal fast-track to colliding with the wild animal that had run out of the wooded area and right into the path of the skier. Those that were taking a video from the bottom of the hill were terrified on behalf of the patroller, and could only watch and hope that everyone turned out okay.
They could be heard yelling things like, “There’s a deer running,” followed by “Oh f**k,” and “HOLY SH*T” if that lets you know how serious this all was.
Miraculously, the skier (who was evidently pretty skilled at the whole skiing thing) managed to narrowly avoid colliding with the deer, and even stayed upright and continued on down them mountain. It even looked like the deer may have temporarily hitched an impromptu and accidental ride, if only for a second, before the skier continued his descent and the deer regained its footing and trotted to the other side of the ski slope.
Check it out:
Skier has a CLOSE CALL with a deer on a black diamond run pic.twitter.com/5lTpDZYEDY
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) February 27, 2025
Unreal. Shoutout to that ski patroller for keeping their cool and making it down the rest of the slope like an ultimate badass. I’d never let my friends hear the end of it if I ever maneuvered around what should have been an unmitigated, deer-skiing disaster. It certainly looked like the skier or the animal was going to get clotheslined… it was just going to be a matter of who was doing the clotheslining.
All in all, it’s truly a wild video. If you happen to be hitting the slopes sometime soon, make sure you keep your head on a swivel. Deer evidently like running out in front of things traveling at high speeds and getting hit by them.
