Why did 23 Skiers and Snowboarders Require Rescue in Vermont?

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Perhaps you saw headlines about a major backcountry rescue that occurred near Vermont’s Killington ski resort his past Saturday, January 20. 23 skiers and snowboarders rescued from Vermont backcountry in freezing temperatures. Mass-rescue saves 23 skiers and snowboarders lost in frigid Vermont backcountry. 

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?

I phoned up Drew Clymer, the SAR coordinator for the Vermont State Police, who helped organize the operation, to try and understand how so many people got lost at the same time. 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 Snowdon Six Express lift 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.”

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 splitboards. In total, 21 skiers and snowboarders were down there together—six were children. Multiple people in the party eventually called 911.

According to the local Rutland Herald, one skier in the group was even a Killington Resort employee. A resort spokesperson told the paper that the employee was fired after the incident.

The sheer size of the group—it swelled to 23 after two more skiers descended into Brewers Brook—meant that local cops couldn’t handle the group alone. Local dispatchers phoned state agencies, and eventually the local Killington Search and Rescue team, which sent 12 rescuers on skis and snowshoes into the backcountry. They led the group to safety. The entire operation took about six hours to complete. And afterward, SAR teams were left to contemplate why so many people made the same bad decision at the same time.

“This isn’t a scenario where people drifted off the side of the trails,” Clymer said. “These skiers make an intentional decision to duck the ropes and ignore the signs and put themselves in danger.”

Apparently, this scenario is not new. Clymer said the local SAR team had to rescue five from the ravine this past Thursday, and a whopping 15 on Friday. The reason for so many rescues, Clymer said, is the enticing powder that currently sits just beyond the resort boundary. After a crummy early season, Northeast resorts finally got fresh snowfall this past week. Killington received 15 inches of snowfall on Wednesday, January 17.

“It’s powder fever,” Clymer said.

It’s the latest story in the long history of people getting into danger while skiing just outside a resort—terrain often referred to as “sidecountry.” In 2022, a Colorado skier named Nick Feinstein was killed by an avalanche while skiing just outside the boundary of Breckenridge Resort. In 2021, an avalanche swept down an out-of-bounds slope just adjacent to Crystal Mountain, Washington—the slide buried six skiers, killing one. Park City, Utah closed the gate to an out-of-bounds area called 9990 in 2021 following several fatalities. In 2011 a slide struck a party of skiers who had exited Snowmass Resort in Colorado. One of the party members did not survive.

Some resorts erect gates or ski area boundaries allowing access to popular backcountry areas while warning skiers and riders they are leaving controlled terrain. That’s not the case at Killington, Clymer said, where the resort boundary is clearly marked with ropes and warning signs. Like that of other resorts, Killing’s rules require visitors to stay off closed trails and out of closed areas. Placards atop Snowdon Mountain explicitly state that danger awaits skiers who head into Brewers Brook, he said.

But the ropes do little if nobody respects them.

“You look over the ropes and see waist-deep powder, and there are ski tracks everywhere,” Clymer said. “Sometimes it’s just too hard to say no.”