Deer Almost Trucks Skier at New Mexico Ski Resort

Shelly Bennett via Storyful.

There’s a certain magic to skiing—the crisp mountain air, the untouched powder, the pure joy of carving down a slope without a care in the world. It’s one of the few places where life feels simple, almost peaceful. Until it doesn’t.

One second, you're floating down the mountain like a ski god, and then—bam!—you're in a full-contact sport you never signed up for. That’s exactly what happened at Red River Ski Area in New Mexico when a ski patroller had a near-death encounter with an absolute menace of a deer. And when I say "near-death," I mean the guy almost got truck-sticked like an unsuspecting quarterback on 4th and goal in the Super Bowl.

Red River Ski Area. New Mexico Magazine.

Now, let’s pause for a second—New Mexico has skiing? I know, right? I thought it was all cacti and Breaking Bad scenery, but apparently, they’ve got some legit pow. Learn something new every day. Anyway, back to the deer-shaped missile that nearly ruined this patroller’s season.

Out of nowhere, Bambi’s rogue cousin came charging full sprint out of left field, hell-bent on taking this guy’s head off. Maybe the deer mistook him for a rival, maybe it was just having a bad day, or maybe—just maybe—it was sent by Mother Nature herself to remind us who's actually in charge out here. Either way, the dude lived to tell the tale, completely unharmed, and now has an all time story to tell his buddies.

Moral of the story? The mountains are unpredictable. You might expect powder, moguls, and maybe a surprise yard sale, but you’re never really prepared for a high-speed deer blitz. And if it’s not a deer, it could be a bear. Or a moose. Or, hell, even Bigfoot. Out here, we’re just guests in the wild’s chaotic playground.