Climber ’prised’ bear’s jaws off leg

Greg Boswell, 24, has told how he narrowly survived a ferocious attack by a grizzly bear in Canada.

A mountaineer has told how he narrowly survived a ferocious attack by a grizzly bear in Canada by prising the animal's jaws apart after it sunk its teeth into his leg.

Greg Boswell, 24, from Cupar in Fife, was making his way through thick forest on the 3 261m Mount Wilson in the Canadian Rockies at the weekend when the “monster” bear chased him down as his climbing companion Nick Bullock watched in horror.

Mr Bullock, from Llanberis in North Wales, said he heard his friend scream the word “bear” and turned to see him pursued across the snow by the animal, which pounced and “bit straight though his brand new boot as if it were a carpet slipper”.

“It lunged once more and crunched into his shin, placing a paw on his other leg before lifting him off the ground,” Mr Bullock wrote on his blog.

“I'm not sure at this point what other people would do, but Boswell is Boswell and the bear just didn't appreciate this. He grabbed the bear's mouth and prised apart the jaws, pushing and screaming.”

Mr Bullock ran for his life, but when he heard his friend screaming for help he stopped and retraced his steps.

“I'll tell the truth, the thought of running back to face the bear armed with only a ski pole slowed me - in fact, armed with a bazooka would have still slowed me - but Greg was shouting my name, how could I just stand?” he recalled.

After managing to fight off the bear, which had left five deep wounds in Mr Boswell's leg, the pair spent several terrifying hours wandering around the freezing woods in darkness as they attempted to find their kit and navigate down the mountain, which is near the ski resort of Banff. “In the distance wolves howled. Following Greg's bloody footprints, I wondered at what distance bears can smell blood,” Mr Bullock recalled.

The two men eventually made it to Banff hospital.

Mr Boswell required surgery on the bite injuries, while Mr Bullock asked for a stiff drink.

Mr Boswell posted several graphic images of his injuries on Facebook, telling friends he had been left “shook up and sore”, but was “all stitched up now and on the mend”.

He later posted a status update thanking Mr Bullock: “It was just as terrifying for him as it was for me. I literally owe my life to Nick. It was a friend doing as much as he could in a crazy situation to keep his friend from dying. I probably would have died of hypothermia or blood loss if he hadn't kept me going. I can't thank Nick enough. Cheers bro.”

The Independent