Free climber faces off with bear-y hungry animal and lives to tell the story
Chichibu, Japan - One free climber was met with a frightening animal surprise while exploring the rocky ridge of Mount Futago in Japan after a bear attacked him on his descent.
We can't think of anything quite as terrifying as climbing down a steep ridge, and looking up to see a bear lunging down at you.
That's what happened to one free climber in Japan, and he happened to capture the jarring encounter on video, too.
In the roughly three-minute clip, the climber is seen making his way down a steep rocky point of Mt. Futago. One minute into the vid, a "high volume" warning flashes across the screen before a bear is seen lunging from the peak towards the climber, who begins to scream like anyone else would in such a situation.
The video's description, which was originally written in Japanese, read: "I was attacked by a bear from behind while descending the rocky ridge of Mt.Futago in Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan."
The climber continued, adding that he refrained from being fearful and "switched to the feeling that if it was coming, I had no choice but to face it."
He did this by screaming and "intimidating" the bear, pounding it with a "hammer fist," and utilizing a front kick to fend off the unwelcomed guest who might've wanted a piece of him for dinner.
Though the bear was dedicated to its attacking cause at first, the climber's defense tactics were successful, leading the bear to eventually run off.
Though we're sure it was beyond terrifying, he can now say he not only fought off a bear, but lived to climb down and tell the story to help keep others safe and aware while in the great outdoors.
Cover photo: Unsplash/@mana5280