Social Media-Driven Backcountry Skiing Trends Lead to Surge in Rescue Calls

A rescue team that covers Vermont’s Mount Mansfield has reported a concerning increase in emergency calls from inexperienced skiers who venture into dangerous backcountry areas after being influenced by social media videos.

Stowe Mountain Rescue has seen their calls for lost skiers nearly triple over the past five years, with approximately eight missions per season now dedicated to retrieving groups who find themselves stranded in unfamiliar territory outside resort boundaries.

“They referenced a TikTok video which had influenced them,” said Stowe Mountain Rescue chief Jon Wehse, referring to two 19-year-olds from New York who required rescue on November 29 after getting lost in woods beyond the Stowe Mountain Resort. “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.”

The trend comes as Vermont experiences record snowfall this winter, with many ski resorts opening earlier than usual for the season. The allure of fresh powder shown in social media videos has increasingly motivated skiers to seek similar thrills without proper training or knowledge of the terrain.

“We have intermediate skiers that have no business being in the backcountry,” Wehse explained.

A common pattern involves visitors following ski tracks that lead beyond marked boundaries, unaware that these same tracks might have been left by previous rescue subjects. Once beyond resort limits, many skiers lack the navigational skills to return safely.

The problem extends far beyond Vermont’s borders. Backcountry skiing presents similar dangers throughout the Rocky Mountains and western United States, where enthusiasts frequently venture from resorts into national forests and public lands seeking pristine conditions.

In mountainous regions of Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wyoming, the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center has already rated avalanche danger as high this season. Unlike ski resorts, where patrollers routinely use explosives to trigger controlled avalanches in unpopulated areas, backcountry zones typically don’t receive such safety measures.

Backcountry skiers face multiple hazards, including disorientation, sudden weather changes, and potentially deadly avalanches. The latter pose a particular threat when new snow accumulates on unstable older layers – conditions that experienced backcountry travelers learn to recognize and avoid.

Stowe Mountain Rescue acknowledges the appeal of backcountry exploration but emphasizes the importance of proper preparation. In a social media post, the team urged inexperienced skiers to remain on designated trails, cautioning that tracks leading off-piste might be from “Stowe Mountain Rescue’s last subject.”

Rather than simply discouraging the activity, rescue teams are exploring ways to address the issue at its source. Stowe Mountain Rescue plans to create educational social media content teaching enthusiasts how to enjoy backcountry skiing responsibly.

“I love social media, I love watching the videos myself,” said Wehse, a lifelong skier. “However, what I would urge everyone to do is to learn how to do this carefully. The best place to start is in bounds.”

The initiative represents a pragmatic approach to a growing problem – using the same platforms that inspire risky behavior to promote safety awareness instead. By acknowledging the appeal of those “whooping skiers in knee-deep powder” while emphasizing proper training and equipment, rescue teams hope to reduce preventable emergencies and ensure outdoor enthusiasts can safely enjoy Vermont’s renowned winter landscapes.