Even When Everything Goes Right, the Backcountry Can Turn Fatal. What College Recreation Clubs Are Doing About It.

Search-and-rescue responders with the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office search for two missing Colorado ice climbers ( olorado Mountain College community in Leadville is in mourning after two of its students—19-year-old Kaden Matsuda and 20-year-old Jackson Donlon—died in late October when their climbing anchor failed during their descent of West Apostle Mountain. While investigators emphasized that the pair took extensive safety precautions, their deaths come amid a string of recent high-profile outdoor accidents involving college students. A 21-year-old with the University of Cincinnati’s Mountaineering Club was found dead on October 12 after he slipped while crossing a stream during a trip in West Virginia.

A 19-year-old wrestler at a California community college also fell to his death while hiking on September 20 in Yosemite National Park. In Kentucky, nine college students from Indiana and Illinois called search-and-rescue officials after they became stranded on a trail called Indian Staircase on August 15. That same month, four college students from New Jersey were rescued in New Hampshire after departing late and getting caught by nightfall.

In January, a helicopter rescued three college-aged hikers from Utah’s Mount Olympus. Andy Millick owns Sharp End Rescue, a search-and-rescue training company in northern Vermont. He told Outside that many outdoor hobbies have a learning curve—from mastering basics like what to bring or how to pack a backpack to developing map-reading and weather-monitoring skills.

Younger people sometimes venture into the backcountry without adequate preparation, the proper equipment, or familiarity with the terrain, he said. They may also lack the experience and judgment to recognize and avoid unnecessary risks. As Millick noted, they don’t always fully understand the prep work that it will require.

The hiker was on a student-led club outing, and when trouble hit, the group acted quickly. When first responders arrived in the early morning hours, they continued warming the student with additional measures, including a heated blanket. By morning, the student had improved enough to walk out with the rescue team’s help.

Millick said it made a huge difference that the trip leader had a Wilderness First Responder certification, an 80-hour course that teaches backcountry survival skills. College outdoor recreation clubs expose young people to the outdoors and usually center on activities such as hiking, backpacking, or adventure sports like kayaking. Some of these, such as the hiking club at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the Dartmouth Outing Club, are more than 100 years old.