Mountain Lion Seen Strolling By Ski Resort's Webcam

^Credit: Indy Pass Media Kit/Sunlight Mountain Resort

Troy Hawks, the Marketing and Sales Director of Sunlight Mountain Resort, CO, just shared an awesome photo picked up by one of the resort’s webcams.

The image shows a mountain lion strolling through the frame back in early December. Hawks shared the image on his Twitter account (@Troy_Hawks).

He says that he waited to share the photo because he didn’t want the mountain lion sighting to be sensationalized and deter guests from visiting Sunlight. I totally get that.

Note the timestamp in the bottom right corner. This photo was captured on December 4th, 2021.

…yes we have cats in the area, but encountering one is extremely rare, being attacked by one while skiing is rarer still. It's neat to see, but not worth the risk of it becoming over sensationalized on social IMO…still, I'll be making lots of noise on my mtb this summer 🚴‍♂️🔊

— Troy Hawks (@Troy_Hawks) April 25, 2022

I don’t think it’s a secret that mountain lions live near ski resorts across the American west, but I could definitely see some uneducated people freaking out about a big cat sighting just days before the resort was set to open.

Hawks makes a great point that its extremely rare to be attacked by a mountain lion while skiing. It’s probably even rarer to be attacked when you’re skiing around other people in a ski resort setting.

It just sucks that the internet is a react-first and ask-questions-later environment, but that’s just the way it goes I guess…