Three inexperienced hikers leaned on AI, YouTube videos, and the AllTrails app to plan a summit of Mt. Shasta. They ended up needing a search-and-rescue team to get off the mountain.
AI correctly estimated the climb at eight hours, so the group packed food and water for that window. It also told them to favor simple carbs over fats because fats "take too long to digest," advice that runs opposite to what mountaineers actually do on long, calorie-burning climbs. The ascent took 16 hours, double the estimate, and the group pushed on past two points where they considered turning back. Their phone's AllTrails app died at the summit, a backup charger failed to work with that phone, and they were left navigating a 14,179-foot peak by sight in the dark. One hiker fell and hurt his knee at 11,500 feet, and the group made an unplanned midnight camp with no food, water, or shelter until Forest Service rangers reached them the next morning.
This reads like an AI failure story, but it isn't really one. Lead climbing ranger Nick Meyers said the AI got the timeline right and described the overall plan as "Swiss cheese" - full of holes that compounded once things went wrong. The real problem, according to Meyers and Shasta Mountain Guides co-owner Chris Carr, is that a confident answer from a phone can substitute for the local, on-the-ground knowledge a ranger station or outfitter would actually provide.
Mother Nature does not care what your app says the pace should be.