Stu, wit– The rescue team covering Vermont’s tallest mountain has been responding to calls in the area for decades, but in the past few years, the organization has seen an alarming rise in calls from inexperienced skiers.
Influenced by videos on social media of skiers chasing fresh backcountry powder trails, people are increasingly skiing out of bounds, only to find themselves lost in the woods and in need of rescue.
On Nov. 29, Stowe Mountain Rescue responded to a 911 call from a skier and snowboarder lost in the woods on Mount Mansfield. The two 19-year-olds decided to drive from New York to backcountry ski outside Stowe Mountain Resort after seeing videos of others doing so on social media, according to the rescue team.
“They referenced a TikTok video that affected them,” said John Weese, head of the Mount Stowe Rescue Team. “These people are unprepared, they’re not equipped, they’re not in the right shape and they don’t have spatial awareness of where they are on the mountain, so it creates a problem very quickly.”
Stowe Mountain Rescue now sees about eight missions to help groups of lost skiers each season, up from about three such calls just five years ago, and that doesn’t include rescues conducted by the Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol within the resort limits.
With Vermont already seeing record snowfall this winter, many ski resorts have opened early for the season, which has exacerbated the problem, Wiese said.
“We have intermediate skiers who don’t have any work in the backcountry,” he said.
Another problem, Wehs said, is that skiers get off the lift at Stowe and blindly follow trails left behind by other skiers that take them out of ski bounds and into areas where they can no longer return to the resort.
In a social media post, Stowe Mountain Rescue urged inexperienced skiers to stay on the trails.
“Keep in mind that those tracks you see ahead of you may just be from Stowe Mountain Rescue’s latest theme,” the crew warned.
Wahsee, who has spent his life skiing and snowboarding, understands the appeal of finding fresh snow, but says there are ways to ski elsewhere on the mountain more safely.
“I love social media, and I love watching videos of myself. However, what I would urge everyone to do is to learn how to do it carefully. The best place to start is with boundaries.”
Looking for ways to address the response to social media videos of “whooping skiers in knee-deep powder,” Stowe Mountain Rescue is studying the source. The crew plans to create social media posts to teach skiers and riders how to enjoy the backcountry responsibly.