As the sled hit the ramp jump, the rat launched itself in an attempt to clear the sled, but instead wound up in Salsman’s lap before ricocheting back toward the first toboggan. (Cole Salsman)

A startling collision on a Victoria road Tuesday was unlike any other the street had ever seen.

“Snowmaggedon” had shut down Ryan Street Hill and tobogganers were taking advantage of the rare snow day in Victoria, dragging their toboggans up the hill and racing to the bottom.

When Cole Salsman was sledding down the hill around 1 p.m., focused on a ramp jump in his path, he caught an unbelievable moment on his GoPro.

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Watching the footage, a scream of “RAT!” can be heard just as a large rat enters the frame, avoiding one toboggan before running straight into Salsman’s path. As the sled hits the ramp jump, the rat launches itself in an attempt to clear the sled, but instead winds up in Salsman’s lap before ricocheting back toward the first toboggan.

“At first I thought it was a piece of toboggan that broke off. But then it was in my lap,” said Salsman. “It flew back onto the hill and ran around the other toboggan and back into my path. I almost hit it a second time. It was a very quick rat.”

When Salsman got to the bottom of the hill about 20 kids gathered around the little GoPro screen to watch the footage.

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“I was very happy I got it on camera,” said the avid filmmaker who often shoots videos of Junior A hockey. “When I first told my parents, they didn’t believe me. I had to show them the video.”

“You have to see it to believe it.”



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