Recent Killington Backcountry Rescues Highlight Stupidity In Potentially Dangerous Weather

Several rescues of skiers and riders that have gone 
rogue at Killington Resort and got lost are 
lucky they weren't severely injured or killed
It's easy for an unprepared person to get in 
serious trouble fast in the back country. 

 During January, two large groups of skiers on different weekends had to be rescued when they ventured into backcountry territory outside the bounds of the Killington Resort.  

In both cases, the weather was thankfully not all that extreme. But it's winter. It was cold, with temperatures only in the single digits above zero. Dangerous if your'e stuck out there unprepared.   

The people who went backcountry were, in fact, completely unprepared. They disregarded how how even moderately cold weather can quickly affect people and potentially kill them.

 They didn't have the equipment to pull themselves out of danger. And they put their rescuers in danger, too.

Winter weather is not to be messed with, but I guess these losers didn't get the memo. 

  As WPTZ reports:

"Killington officers spoke with Vermont State Police's Search and Rescue team, and through further investigation, discovered there were actually 23 lost individuals six of them juveniles. 

Twelve members from Killington's Search and Rescue team went into the woods, where they spent the next several hours hiking, snowshoeing and skiing over five miles in frigid temperatures."

The initial call was for nine lost skiers. That number kept swelling to 23.  Killington resort duly noted that 

The rescue of so many people at once who ignored signs and barricades at Killington and went into the backcountry  captured the attention of Outside magazine writer Frederick Dreier:

"Perhaps you wondered, like I did, how nearly two dozen skiers and snowboarders somehow got trapped and needed to be extracted amid bone-chilling conditions. Was this a birthday party gone wrong? Did the local ski club throw its annual kegger a little too deep in the woods? What the hell happened?"

Dreirer phoned up Drew Clymer who helped organize the rescue as part of his job at the Vermont State Police to get an answer.  

"Apparently, four different groups of skiers and boarders who were enjoying a day of skiing and riding at Killington Resort made the unfortunate decision to duck the ropes atop the Snowden Six Express life and head into the backcountry. 

'These were all front-side resort skiers,' Clymer said. 'We were rescuing skiers in the backcountry, but that doesn't mean they were backcountry skiers.'"

THE LANDSCAPE/DANGER

My sister Laurie lives in a beautiful, high elevation spot in Shrewsbury, Vermont. She has a commanding view of the back side of the Killington and Pico ski resorts - the backcountry. 

People who go into the backcountry think they're close to the hustle and bustle of central Vermont's big ski hub. So it would be no trouble finding your way back, right?   

A view from Shrewsbury, Vermont of the back sides of 
the mountains that hold the Killington and Pico ski resorts.
On this side of those mountains, there's nothing
there but wilderness that's easy to get lost within. 

Wrong.

The view from Laurie's house is impressive, to say the least. Her view is squarely on the back  country. It's totally undeveloped. All you see from Laurie's vantage point is trees.  

 It's a vast, vast area of unbroken forest, ridges, and slopes. There's absolutely no houses, roads, or any major human in an immense span of acreage that would get you back to civilization. At night, from Laurie's house, the only light you see up there is the moon. If it's out. 

Also, try climbing back up the mountain in the cold and deep snow to get to the other side that has all the ski runs and lodges and condominiums.    

It looks so easy to get lost there, disoriented. Especially when it's cold, snowy, foggy and/or dark. You're tired, hungry and shivering. And you don't have the right equipment. And you expect to get out of that situation without any help?  

Meanwhile, as  Killington Police Chief Whit Montgomery described to the Rutland Herald: "'One of the ways it becomes so dangerous is you get in there on fresh snow, it can be deep. It can be yup to your waist or higher, with ski boots on or snow boots on....you start to sweat, you get wet, the temperatures drop more, hypothermia can set in; it gets pretty dangerous pretty quickly."

Especially when you're stuck in a bad location. 

 From the Outside article about the rescue: 

"They descended into a steep gully called Brewers Brook that is known to accumulate powder. But when the skiers and boarders reached the bottom, they realized what lay ahead: A 2.5 mile boot-pack out over steep and icy terrain. They were cold and tired and lost.

According to Clymer, nobody had touring equipment like climbing skins or split boards, In total, 21 skiers and snowboarders were down there together - six were children. Multiple people in the party eventually called 911."

So now, this group was in danger. So to - at least to some extent - the rescuers dispatched to find the bozos. Sure, the rescuers had the right equipment, the right experience, the right level of fitness. But things could still go wrong. 

In this case, they didn't. But it's amazing how some vacationers and such have no regard to what winter and terrain and nature can do in the backcountry. 

I don't know how we will ever teach people to learn this, other than hit them up financially for the rescues.  Emergency workers are reluctant to charge people for the cost of rescues. The fear of financial impact might make people needing rescue to postpone calling for help until it's too late. 

So far, pretty much all the stories I can remember about these ignorant backcountry explorers had a happy ending. They tend to be found alive, with no serious injuries. That's not the case everywhere. There have been several fatalities at western U.S. ski areas among people who have skied out of bounds at resorts. 

Perhaps not so happy for some of the people who were rescued. Killington at last report was considering pulling the passes of at least some of this group.

Among the 23 people rescued, one was a Killington employee, the Rutland Herald said. Killington fired that employee.