A cougar attacked a man at a ski resort Sunday outside of Beaver Mountain, Utah, but he was able to fight it off with a snowboard.
Charlie Duffy was walking outside of resort boundaries with his snowboard when he noticed big cat paw prints in the snow, KSL reported. Moments later, unnerved by the paw prints, he looked over his shoulder to see the mountain lion five or six feet away from him. The cat then pounced, according to the outlet.
Charlie Duffy went off the trail while snowboarding Sunday only to end up fighting off a cougar. @MikeAnderson explains how the fight ended.https://t.co/uNOWUj7o6E
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) February 8, 2024
“My fight response instantly kicked in and I grabbed my board in my right hand and swung with full force at the jumping mountain lion,” Duffy said in an Instagram post. “It barely grazed my neck with its claws and got knocked to the ground. The mountain lion proceeded to get back up and come back at me.”
Duffy noticed the mountain lion appeared “starving to death and injured from the blow.”
Duffy was eventually able to snowboard away, according to KSL. (RELATED: Insane Video Shows Teenager Jumping From Ski Lift, Authorities Completely Missing Her Despite Having Safety Net)
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Photos posted on Instagram show Duffy’s torn jacket where the cougar attacked him. After posting on Instagram, snowboard brands Nitro and 686 pledged to send him some new gear.
“Insane! We gotta send you a new board!!! Glad you are okay,” Nitro Snowboards commented.
“INSANE. We’re gonna get that repaired for you,” 686 wrote.