SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A skier captured the moments a black bear sprinted right in front of him while on Ridge Run Trail at Heavenly.
The video was posted by TikTok user @Tao7570, who asked ABC10 to credit his TikTok for the video.
He told ABC10 he took the video Sunday morning at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe. The video starts with at least five skiers, including @Tao7570, on the trail with the bear not far in front of them on the left-hand side.
After a few seconds, the bear makes a sprint across the trail even as the skiers continue downhill. @Tao7570 comes within inches of the bear as it runs by.
He told ABC10 that he felt very lucky for narrowly avoiding the bear, but he felt better after seeing the bear reunite with his mother off the trail. The reunion can briefly be seen at the 12 second mark before trees block the view.
WATCH THE VIDEO: Black bear hits the slopes at Heavenly ski resort in Tahoe
According to Peter Tira, spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lake Tahoe has one of the largest concentrations of black bears in North America. So seeing a bear in the area, even at a ski resort, isn't necessarily surprising.
"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," said Tira.
While bears are known for hibernating in the winter, Tira said hibernation is related to resource availability.
"As natural food supplies continue to dwindle and snow gradually blankets the Tahoe Basin, bears should naturally go into hibernation to save energy and resources. However, bears that continue to find and access unnatural, human-provided food sources like garbage, bird feeders, pet food, and other human attractants may bypass it altogether and stay active through the winter. This can create a reliance on human food that can be harmful for bears," said Tira.
Instagram user Nolan Brown reached out to ABC10, saying that he saw the bear not long before the sprint across the ski trail. He took the video below around 9:30 a.m. from the ski lift at Heavenly.