I grew up in Montana and spent large amounts of time in Grizzly country. We had lessons in Boy Scouts about what grizzlies could do, as well.
Stranger on a Train - those are some fantastic pictures and sites, and thanks for sharing them. I hate the way bear stories get inflated by scaremongers and hollywood, when they’re usually quite easy to be around as long as you know what you’re doing. Fishing in Alaska alongside kodiaks is a memory I will cherish always. You just gotta know the rules - if the bear wants the salmon you just hooked, he gets it! 
Before anyone gets panicked about bears, though, grizzlies attack people ONLY in the following circumstances:
- They are surprised. This is why hikers in bear country wear bells and are encouraged to talk when walking on trails and such. This is because what you don’t want to do is walk around a corner and be on top of a grizzly
- Female with cubs. A female grizzly defending her cubs could very easily kill you. She will not stop attacking you until you stop moving, and will attack viciously in order to give her cubs time to get away. DO NOT get between a mother and her cubs. This is probably the only time it’s safe to run away from a bear, as well - she will stay with her cubs. Good safety rule - if you see a cub alone (and don’t see it’s momma), freeze, get down on the ground, and stay there! Momma’s around somewhere and she don’t like anybody messing with her kid!
- Fighting over food. A hungry bear is likely to attack a human to defend a found food source (like your rucksack) but this is not a predatory attack but more like a ‘leave me alone’ attack. This is why the most dangerous times in bear country are in the early spring and late fall (just after and just before bears hibernate) when they are hugely hungry, and also why you never never keep food in your camp but instead hang it in trees and outside of your rucksack. My ‘bear kit’ hiking rucksack has an outer sack attachment where I put food with a single quick release on it. Bear gets on me, I pop the quick release, he stops to eat my food, I vacate the area.
- Old bear desperate for food; might mistake a human for a food source. This is EXTREMELY rare (like never).
In every other circumstance, the bear will vacate the area if he sees, smells, or hears you coming and his sight, hearing, and smell are a damn sight better than yours. It boils down to this - bears attack people very very occasionally, but NEVER eat them.
I would bet an adult grizzly could do exactly that; he could knock a refrigerator flying with a swipe from his paw. These animals are terrifically strong.
Bears are not just big and strong and smart, but they are extremely fast as well. An adult grizzly can charge at up to 40 miles per hour (50 downhill). That’s the danger - a bear attack is as follows:
- Try to scare off attacker. Bears are generally non-confrontational. This means standing on their hind legs, roaring, etc.
- Charge at attacker, swiping once or twice, will attempt to knock a person down
- Once the target is down, the bear will come in an maul the person on the ground, rolling them over and over and biting and pawing at the head and neck
- This is generally where the attack ends, if the person is smart enough to play dead. But I would bet that a person in armor would be pretty messed up by this point, especially by the maul attack, as their armor would be dented
Grizzlies have been known to take .44 and .357 mag round to the skull several times without stopping them. I doubt your war pick would do as much penetration damage as a .357 or .44 mag.
From horseback, and in groups, and they didn’t hunt Grizzly or Kodiak bears. European blacks and browns are much like North American blacks and browns - not nearly as tough a nut to crack and far more likely to run away than put up a fight.
Please read **Stranger’s ** description and links - he’s dead on. And I’ve been through enough bear ‘attacks’ when camping in the Rockies that I know he’s right - a bear will come into your camp and try to eat your food (especially when you’re not there) but if you act agressive towards one, they will run away. And Grizzlies, if offered the choice, won’t come anywhere near you in the first place!
One particularly memorable incident when we were camping was my mom, my sister (5), me (8), my brother (10). Dad was out of camp somewhere. A young male black bear came into our camp lured by the food my mom was cooking, and mom drove it out by screaming and throwing sticks and logs and rocks at it. I never saw an animal look as scared as that bear did, and the bear was easily double my mom’s size! 
