A rescue team that covers Vermont's tallest mountain has seen an alarming rise in calls from inexperienced skiers who end up getting lost and in dangerous locations after being influenced by videos on social media. After seeing footage online of skiers chasing fresh powder tracks in the backcountry, people are increasingly skiing out of bounds, finding themselves lost in the woods and in need of rescue, reports the AP.
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 had decided to drive up from New York to ski in the backcountry 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] had influenced them," Stowe Mountain Rescue chief Jon Wehse said. "These people are unprepared, they're ill-equipped, they're not in the right shape, and they have no spatial awareness of where they are on the mountain, so it causes a problem very quickly."
Stowe Mountain Rescue now sees around eight missions to help groups of lost skiers per season, up from around three such calls only five years ago, and that doesn't include rescues by Mount Mansfield Ski Patrol in bounds at the resort. With Vermont already seeing record snowfall this winter, many ski resorts opened early for the season, which has only exacerbated the problem, Wehse said. "We have intermediate skiers that have no business being in the backcountry," he said.
Though Stowe has seen a rapid increase in rescues, Wehse says these incidents aren't limited to the area. "This is not a Stowe problem, this is a Vermont problem. It's a global problem," he said. In a social media post, Stowe Mountain Rescue urged inexperienced skiers to simply stay on the trails.
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