Vermont’s mountain resorts have seen a healthy amount of snow already this season.
“We've never been able to ski high backcountry terrain this early in the season,” said Stowe Mountain Rescue Chief Jon Wehse.
While the fresh powder has been a dream come true for some skiers and snowboarders, Wehse said it’s also led to more rescues, particularly involving people less experienced with winter sports.
Stowe has seen an “unprecedented” number of early-season rescues, said Wehse, who adds that social media and impulsive behavior are to blame.
On Dec. 1, Stowe Mountain Rescue shared a Facebook post detailing a recent rescue in which a lost skiing party said they had been inspired by TikTok.
Two 19-year-olds ventured into Vermont’s backcountry in the hopes of recreating an experience seen on the shortform video platform.
“They ended up obviously in backcountry terrain,” Wehse said. “And they were relatively unprepared for where the drainage dropped them.”
Following ski tracks out-of-bounds is a more common practice that can also result in skiers needing to be rescued, he said.
“I think many of them just think that ‘I'll just follow these guys' ski trail, and if somebody else went into the woods here, I'll just follow their tracks all the way out,’” Wehse said. “But obviously that doesn't work.”
His advice for any potential backcountry skiers is simple: “Don't go if you don't know where it ends up.”
Skiers lost in the backcountry can mistakenly travel long distances, sometimes ending up in areas with more dangerous conditions that result in challenging and time-consuming rescues for responders.
“And this is not a Stowe problem,” Wehse said. “This is a Vermont ski area problem.”
The simplest solution for skiers looking to not get lost is to stay in-bounds at resorts, he said.
Resorts, rescues and ski patrols work together to ensure clear boundaries for skiers, often using ropes, signs and public announcements to encourage people to stay inbounds. But they’ll never be able to stop everyone from venturing out, Wehse said.
For anyone looking to experience the backcountry, a risk-assessment is a good way to figure out how prepared you are. It’s crucial to understand where you are, but there are other factors that can increase your safety, including knowing how to get out of the ski area, Wehse said.
“How long am I going to be out there? How warm do I need to be? How cold is it? Are there impending storms coming in? Do I have cell phone coverage if I do get in trouble? Even good skiers can get into trouble,” he said.
Another option is for riders to stay inbounds and ski or snowboard between trails.
“There’s plenty of glade skiing on most Vermont mountains because it's become quite a trend,” Wehse said.
