Wild clip of mountain climber fighting off bear leaves people stunned

The mere thought of scaling a mountain is terrifying enough for some, but throw a literal wild bear into the mix and the situation escalates to a whole new level of scary.

Now, I'm not someone who regularly heads out to traverse mountains, but I've scrambled up enough rocky slopes and edged along enough narrow pathways to know that it requires a lot of attention.

Sometimes just trying to hold a conversation without losing your balance is challenging enough, so I can't imagine what it must be like trying to fend for your own life.

One person who can, and who actually succeeded in this area, is a climber who found themselves going head-to-head with a black bear on Mount Futago in Japan earlier this month.

Bodycam footage from a device the climber was wearing shows the bear running over the rocks towards them - a sight that could itself have been enough to cause the climber to stumble backwards.

Bear Attacks Climber/YouTube

Thankfully the climber somehow appeared prepared for the situation, and quickly responded by shoving the bear backwards down the slope.

It's not like there's a quick escape when you're in the middle of climbing a mountain, so the person had no choice but to keep fending off the bear while simultaneously trying to pull themselves up the rocks. It's not exactly the kind of situation you can practise for at a climbing wall, which makes the intense scene all the more impressive.

It's thought the bear in the video targeted the climber because they were deemed a threat to her cub. About 30 seconds after the attack began, the animal scurried off into the bushes with its baby.

In a post on YouTube, the climber admitted they were invading the bear's territory while climbing the mountain. However, when it attacked them they had no choice but to defend themselves, putting their karate and mixed martial arts training into action.

Though your first instinct when faced with an actual bear might be to try and run away, the US National Parks Service actually advises to 'fight back with everything you have' if a black bear charges and attacks.

Unsplash

"Do not play dead. Direct punches and kicks at the bear’s face, and use any weapon like rocks, branches, or bear spray to defend yourself," the authority explains.

Unsurprisingly, the intense footage of the attack has quickly gone viral and racked up thousands of comments from shocked Twitter users, one of who commented: "THIS IS WHY I DO NOT CLIMB F*CKING MOUNTAINS."

If you're looking for an excuse to get out of a hike this weekend, this is it.