A quick-thinking Utah man has managed to fend off a mountain lion which attacked him in the backcountry using his snowboard for self-defense.
According to reporting by KSL news , Charlie Duffy was hiking out-of-bounds near Beaver Mountain ski area on Sunday looking for some fresh powder when he noticed large paw prints in the snow, causing him to be on high alert.
Minutes later, he looked over his shoulder and saw the mountain lion behind him preparing to pounce. Fortunately, Duffy was able to swing his snowboard at the mountain lion and hold it back.
“It kind of got me on the neck when it was pouncing. Just a tiny bit – just grazed it. Nothing piercing the skin,” Duffy says in describing the terrifying encounter, adding that it managed to rip up the sleeve of his ski jacket .
Duffy explains that the mountain lion had another go, but he continued to use his snowboard as both a shield and a weapon until he was finally able to make some distance between himself and the cat. To escape, he rode his snowboard down the mountain.