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Skateboarder Gets Tangled Up With Deer On Lookout Mountain

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) - A wild video clip posted over the weekend shows a skateboarder colliding with a deer while flying down a Colorado mountain road.

The video reportedly was shot by another longboarder on Lookout Mountain over the weekend during one of the the Buffalo Bill Downhill race events. In that annual race, Lookout Mountain Road is closed and longboarders reach excessive speeds while traveling down it.

The skateboarder, Ryan Vitale, 17, is now back home in Salt Lake City. The high school junior walked away with no broken bones but said both he and the deer were in a state of shock. He was travelling at about 40 miles per hour when he and the deer collided.

"I remember opening my eyes and being on top of a deer. I was pretty much in shock, and so was the deer," Vitale told CBS4 by phone.

Vitale, who's been skateboarding two years, said the deer just started running toward him.

"I knew I was going to hit it and I don't remember what I did, but I tackled it to the ground," he said. "I was praying I didn't break anything."

WARNING: There is some foul language at the end of this clip.

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Vital said the deer broke his fall, leaving him with serious road rash and a sore body, but no broken bones. He said the deer walked away but for a few moments after the crash they were staring at each other.

Last year's Buffalo Bill Downhill took place in May and during that race there was a major scare when a helicopter had a rough landing while filming the race. Spectators were just very close to the crash.

No one was hurt in that incident.

Helicopter Goes Down
Paul Sampson of Golden took this photo during the Buffalo Bill Downhill longboarding race on May 8. No one was hurt when the helicopter went down.
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