Washington — Sometimes, random videos go viral for unexpected reasons.
In February 2025, YouTuber Ski-Bike-Surf Dad posted a video of a recent powder day at Stevens Pass. The video doesn’t feature hardcore ski lines, but rather a skier navigating his way through a series of no-fall zones. It’s a sketchy situation, which results in the skier losing one of his poles. At the end, there is a bit of quality skiing thanks to a few cliff jumps. For viewers, that makes the ordeal worth it.
At the beginning of this year, the video only had a couple thousand views. Viewership rose quickly and impressively. The first surge came in late March, with it receiving over 270,000 views in one day (March 30th). After some downtime with minimal views, it saw another surge at the beginning of this month. It peaked at over 114,000 views on August 7th. As of August 16th, it has over 770,000 views.
After the viewership spiked, the YouTuber suggested viewers check out a video of him actually ripping.
Why Did This Go Viral?
Several factors likely caused this to go viral. The March bump was likely due to ski season, with viewers drawn to those types of videos. The second bump likely came from skiers craving snow and non-skiers looking to cool down after a hot summer. The title, likely updated after the bump in traffic, and the majestic thumbnail photo likely drew viewers into this adventure. Once viewers begin watching a guy fight for his life through a narrow ridgeline, they’re hooked for the whole video.
Here are some of the best viewer comments:
- “I didn’t breathe for 12 minutes and 52 seconds.”
- “My wife had to call 911 to get me outta’ this video.”
- “Due to being disabled now I can no longer backcountry ski (or ski in general). Thank you for taking me with you. I’m a native to Colorado and I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s backcountry skiing around Vail. The area your in looks a lot alike. I weirdly I really miss the squeaking sounds my boots walking on snow made lol.”
Following this viewership surge, the YouTuber updated the caption to analyze why he thought people were drawn to the video
“I did not expect this one to blow up. The snow was challenging and my skiing was horrible. But I guess the algorithm likes the beautiful ridge traverse in the beginning and the controversy of losing my pole in the middle. The line at the very end was redeeming. Thanks for watching, kook!”
Ultimately, the YouTube algorithm is weird. I am happy that they put a quality skiing video on my feed for once. Another takeaway: Stevens Pass is known by the acronym SPKA for a reason.
Image/Video Credits: Ski-Bike-Surf Dad, Stevens Pass Ski Resort
