A TikTok video showing a hiker struggling on a dangerous path in bad weather has gone viral, and the online hiking community is kind of angry. Max Wallenfang posted the video in July, and it gained over 1.5 million views. In the video, Wallenfang’s girlfriend is slowly working her way across a via ferrata (an area with permanently fixed safety chains/infrastructure to help climbers or hikers traverse tricky and/or steep rocky terrain). It’s raining in the video.
Wallenfang overlaid text on the video that says: “told my [girlfriend] it’s gonna be an easy hike . . .”. Clearly, it’s not an easy hike. Some people on TikTok note that the couple wasn’t prepared for the terrain or the weather. In fact, Wallenfang admits they were not.
“I honestly didnt [sic] research the route enough upfront,” he wrote in the TikTok video’s caption. “There were only a few pictures on komoot and I did not expect any via ferratas on our trip. Mistakes were made and I learned from that. She absoluty [sic] killed it this day, and I’m proud of her.”
Wallenfang also set the record straight saying he didn’t actually tell his girlfriend it’d be an easy hike. He was just being facetious in his text overlay. Based on the video’s hashtags, it appears the couple was hiking in the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia.
See hikers stuck in bad weather and on a tougher route than they expected here:
Some commenters don’t hold back in their replies.
“I pray I never find a man who puts me in this situation,” wrote one person.
“Biggest mistake ever. The least one can do is check the weather forecast. The mountains are not to be gambled with,” wrote another.
Others say:
“May a love like this never find me.”
And: “via ferrata in the rain, without safety belt is crazy. Yes it’s ‘easy’, but it’s just as easy to slip and die.”
We’re glad the couple finished this hike safely.
Have you ever hiked in bad weather and/or a dangerous situation and wished you’d prepared better?