Don’t Blindly Follow TikTok: Stowe Rescuers Warn of Surging Backcountry Calls

The local search and rescue organization in Stowe, Vermont, has some advice for skiers and snowboarders: don’t blindly follow what you see on TikTok.

According to Stowe Mountain Rescue, epic powder videos shared on social media are luring unprepared people into the backcountry around Stowe Mountain Resort. The mountain’s ski patrol has been inundated with an unprecedented number of calls to rescue lost skiers, the organization said.

“Our team has been called in to help several times, and at least one of the skiing parties we rescued quoted TikTok as their inspiration,” Stowe Mountain Rescue wrote in a Facebook post.

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TikTok isn’t the only problem.

Stowe Mountain Rescue added that skiers and snowboarders are chasing other people’s tracks in the snow that go beyond the resort boundaries. While that boundary is clearly marked, “evidently the lure of tracks in fresh snow is too much to resist,” the organization wrote.

The issue with following those tracks is that, without past experience, skiers may not know how to get back to civilization. Stowe Mountain Rescue cited the slopes around the Toll Road as an example. 

“Those familiar with it know when to traverse left to make it back to the resort,” the organization wrote. “Miss this exit ramp, and you have no return, committing you to a long, hard, flat slog in no-man’s land.”

The current snowpack can make things worse. Vermont has seen an impressive start to the season. Stowe Mountain Resort has already tallied 65 inches of snow. 

But at lower elevations, that powder isn’t as deep this time of year, which, Stowe Mountain Rescue wrote, means “those few nice turns below the Toll Road [can] quickly turn into brambly terrain with woefully inadequate snow.”

These ill-advised adventures out of bounds may go sour. The skiers Stowe Mountain Rescue finds in the Toll Road area are “utterly lost,” “cold,” “exhausted,” and “sacred.”

Stowe Mountain Rescue’s advice? 

The easiest solution is staying in bounds. Go search out the powder pockets between marked trails, which can also offer a feeling of adventure with less risk. Those intent on trying out the backcountry, meanwhile, shouldn’t do so on a whim. 

“Accidents will happen in the backcountry, and we’ll always gladly respond, but this wave of lost skiers is largely the result of impulsive behavior, which is entirely preventable,” Stowe Mountain Rescue wrote.

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