Three mountain bikers and a pet dog are fortunate to be alive and
nursing only minor wounds, having survived what appears to have been a
dramatic encounter with a mother grizzly bear during their adventure
this week on Alaska's popular Resurrection Pass Trail.
Tyler
Nord was with his fiancee, Kimi Elliott, and longtime friend Kyle
Eisenbach and his dog, Kobi. Their gripping ordeal serves to remind
anyone entering grizzly country to carry pepper spray, because it can
save lives, and to maintain as much composure as possible under the
harrowing circumstances.
The three riders were six miles into the trail when they startled the grizzly and her two cubs. The bear, being a protective mother, charged the group but stopped and turned her attention to Kobi when the dog confronted the bear and began barking and growling.
The bear briefly chased Kobi, allowing the bikers to run back down the trail rolling their bikes by the handlebars but for some reason failing to hop onto them for a swifter exit.
That was when the scene turned ugly. The charging bear appeared behind them moments after they had begun to run. Elliott and Eisenbach bolted off the trail and into a clearing and the bear followed Elliott, who stopped and pressed her body against a tree.
"The bear was swatting at her as she stood by the tree," Nord explained in a story posted Thursday on the Alaska Dispatch website. "As soon as I realized the bear was chasing her, I ran back up the trail and around the shrubbery. I ran at mama yelling and screaming, at which point she decided I was the bigger threat.
"As mama started to run at me, I began quickly backpedaling towards the trail. In the process of backpedaling, I dropped the backpack with the bear spray. At this point, I managed to execute the classic horror-movie stumble, falling on my back in the trail. Mama was quite close when I fell, and as she jumped on me I managed to pull my knees up to my chest and kicked off as hard as I could. Thank goodness for adrenaline, because I was able to push her completely off of me."
The bear then turned on Eisenbach, allowing Nord to grab the bear spray from his backpack. Elliott was screaming the words "Fetal position," which is what victims of grizzly attacks are supposed to assume.
"While Mama was busy mauling Kyle, I grabbed the bear spray out of the backpack and ran at her again, since I had no idea how far bear spray is supposed to shoot," Nord continued. "When I was about five feet away she looked up at me and I unleashed the peppery cocktail. Mama took a few steps back, and I sprayed her in the face again. She paused, stared at me, and then ran off into the woods."
Soon afterward, Kobi emerged and Elliott shouted, "He's alive!"
Elliott's backpack and shirt were torn from the swiping of bear paws; Nord received bruises, scratches and a puncture wound on his thigh, and Eisenbach suffered scratches to the face and head and rash wounds to his back and shoulders.
Tyler
Nord was with his fiancee, Kimi Elliott, and longtime friend Kyle
Eisenbach and his dog, Kobi. Their gripping ordeal serves to remind
anyone entering grizzly country to carry pepper spray, because it can
save lives, and to maintain as much composure as possible under the
harrowing circumstances.The three riders were six miles into the trail when they startled the grizzly and her two cubs. The bear, being a protective mother, charged the group but stopped and turned her attention to Kobi when the dog confronted the bear and began barking and growling.
The bear briefly chased Kobi, allowing the bikers to run back down the trail rolling their bikes by the handlebars but for some reason failing to hop onto them for a swifter exit.
That was when the scene turned ugly. The charging bear appeared behind them moments after they had begun to run. Elliott and Eisenbach bolted off the trail and into a clearing and the bear followed Elliott, who stopped and pressed her body against a tree.
"The bear was swatting at her as she stood by the tree," Nord explained in a story posted Thursday on the Alaska Dispatch website. "As soon as I realized the bear was chasing her, I ran back up the trail and around the shrubbery. I ran at mama yelling and screaming, at which point she decided I was the bigger threat.
"As mama started to run at me, I began quickly backpedaling towards the trail. In the process of backpedaling, I dropped the backpack with the bear spray. At this point, I managed to execute the classic horror-movie stumble, falling on my back in the trail. Mama was quite close when I fell, and as she jumped on me I managed to pull my knees up to my chest and kicked off as hard as I could. Thank goodness for adrenaline, because I was able to push her completely off of me."
The bear then turned on Eisenbach, allowing Nord to grab the bear spray from his backpack. Elliott was screaming the words "Fetal position," which is what victims of grizzly attacks are supposed to assume.
"While Mama was busy mauling Kyle, I grabbed the bear spray out of the backpack and ran at her again, since I had no idea how far bear spray is supposed to shoot," Nord continued. "When I was about five feet away she looked up at me and I unleashed the peppery cocktail. Mama took a few steps back, and I sprayed her in the face again. She paused, stared at me, and then ran off into the woods."
Soon afterward, Kobi emerged and Elliott shouted, "He's alive!"
Elliott's backpack and shirt were torn from the swiping of bear paws; Nord received bruises, scratches and a puncture wound on his thigh, and Eisenbach suffered scratches to the face and head and rash wounds to his back and shoulders.
The scars will remind the bikers of what happened and what might have been, and perhaps caused them to be better prepared for future rides into the wilderness. Said Nord: "We definitely had some guardian angels watching over us, and everybody made it out OK."
-- Pete Thomas
Top image of an adult grizzly bear courtesy of Steve Hillebrand / U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceEditor's note: This post also appears on the GrindTV.com website
Well by virtue Mountain bikers is sharing the same space as the bears and going through trails at speed have a higher risk of surprising the bears...Really interesting and new one..
Posted by: pepperspray | Oct 20, 2011 at 01:23 PM
From the article: "The bear briefly chased Kobi, allowing the bikers to run back down the trail rolling their bikes by the handlebars but for some reason failing to hop onto them for a swifter exit."
Since grizzly bears can run about 45 mph this was probably the right thing to do unless they can go from 0 to 50 on their bikes in just a few seconds! In an least one similar incident I know of in BC or Alberta a mountainbiker actually kept the bear off him by keeping the frame of the bike between himself and the sow. Might be a good idea to not carry the spray in the backpack but rather in a modified water bottle holder on the frame of the bike for easier access. Mountain bikers, just by virtue of sharing the same space as the bears and going through trails at speed have a higher risk of surprising the bears.
Glad everyone, including the dog, is OK!
Posted by: IndeYukon | Jul 09, 2010 at 12:39 PM