iStockphoto / Dee Carpenter Photography
Skier Kenny Rynearson can be heard on his video telling everyone he passes to ‘go faster’ as a moose chases skiers and snowboarders down a ski mountain in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Lift tickets in Jackson Hole are relatively reasonable compared to other popular skiing destinations, running around $115+ a day. It’s getting there and staying in Jackson Hole that makes it such an expensive trip. But capturing this footage of a moose chasing skiers down the mountain is priceless. I’d pay an arm and a leg for this experience. It’s like Pamplona’s ‘Running of the Bulls’ for yuppie skiers.
Shared on Facebook on February 4th and later picked up by news outlets like ForTheWin, the footage has since gone viral with everyone amazed by how long the moose actually chases them down the mountain.
Another skier captured multiple angles of the moose chasing everyone:
Moose Chases Skiers In Wyoming, What Are The Odds?
I recently saw a map estimating the moose population by state. Alaska obviously leads the pack with an estimated 175,000 moose statewide and its followed by Maine which has an estimated 60,000 moose.
According to the WPR, Wyoming has an estimated 3,500 moose. And we’re talking about the 10th largest state in the USA here. Wyoming’s 10,000km² larger than the entire United Kingdom and there are only 3,500 moose roaming around.
So the odds of just seeing a moose in Montana are already exceedingly rare but to see a moose (1) on the Jackson Hole ski mountain and (2) be chased by it, those are odds so small they likely can’t be calculated. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone on that mountain and everyone in Jackson Hole. You love to see it.
As for those wondering how the moose kept running without getting tired, consider this, a moose typically travels 5-10 miles a day while wandering in circles. But when they want to, moose can run at speeds of up to 35 MPH. They are FAST creatures. This video of a moose chasing skiers is surreal when you consider it could’ve caught them at any time.