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Snowboarding Selfie: Snowboarder Chased By A Bear At Japanese Ski Resort [Video]

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 10:41 PST, Apr 11, 2016

A video of an Australian woman snowboarding in Japan is currently going viral, which could either be the ultimate snowboarding selfie or a very clever fake. The woman claims she had no idea the bear was following her down the piste as she sang Rihanna’s song “Work.”

As reported by RT News, Kelly Murphy is a 19-year-old student from Sydney who spent some time in Japan over the weekend. According to Murphy, she decided to capture herself on video while snowboarding at the Hakuba 47 Ski Resort in Nagano in central Japan. Murphy says she had no idea the bear was hot on her tail at the time she was making her snowboarding selfie, using a GoPro and a selfie stick.

The video starts with Murphy clipping on her board before she starts slowing making her way downhill. She can be seen to be wearing headphones, while singing along to Rihanna’s “Work.” Apparently distracted by the music, she doesn’t notice that in the background a bear enters at stage left.

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As she sings and snowboards along – apparently oblivious of her surroundings – the bear chases the snowboarder for a short distance down the slope. However, as she starts to pick up speed she unknowingly escapes from her furry pursuer.

According to the snowboarder, she had no idea she was being chased by a bear as she filmed her journey down the piste. Murphy said she only realized what had happened when she watched her snowboarding video footage later and spotted the large bear behind her on the slope.

Watch the action in the video included below.

Murphy told 9 News that she was “freaking out” when she watched the video and immediately notified staff at the ski resort of what could have lead to a terrifying bear attack while snowboarding.

She uploaded the video to YouTube on April 10, saying in the description: “OMG! I was going through my snowboarding videos and I found a bear chasing me!!! I nearly got eaten!!! This was at Hakuba 47 in Japan, filmed yesterday! Be careful people!!!”

Murphy said that while she was snowboarding alone at the time of the bear incident, she decided to stay with her friends and “stick to the easier runs” during the rest of their time together at the ski resort.

The video of her being chased by a bear while snowboarding is getting a 50/50 reaction on YouTube and currently has 3,469 likes and 3,328 thumbs down at the time of writing.

Many of the comments below the video are calling the snowboarding bear photobomb a fake while others complain about her taste in music.

One particular viewer is wondering if they even have brown bears in Japan, saying, “Do they have brown bears in Nagano, in central Japan? Because that looks like a gigantic freakin’ brown bear. Nice try. I call fake.”

Another commented, “I wish the fake bear had fake eaten her to stop that awful song.”

“And the next Oscar goes to THE BEAR!” said another particularly witty YouTuber.

A video editing expert commented, “The movement of the bear is fairly well done, albeit a little ideal. The tonal values are way off however. Nice try lol.”

Yet another viewer didn’t call fake, but did say, “Rihanna saves lives. For those who say ‘Rihanna has no impact.’ Take that now.”

Now we just have to wonder, if Murphy hadn’t sped away from the bear on her snowboard, would this have turned into a Revenant sequel starring the Australian student in place of Leonardo DiCaprio? Or is it all just a clever fake? Let us know your impressions in the comments section below.

[Photo via YouTube]

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