Alpine Divorce: alpine divorce Trend Sparks Online Outrage
The phrase alpine divorce has trended across social media after a TikTok user said her boyfriend abandoned her on a mountain hike. That clip and related posts have prompted outrage, literary references and a criminal case that reviewers point to when debating how widespread the practice is.
Alpine Divorce goes viral
Users on X raised the issue after one wrote: “Just saw a TikTok of a girl whose boyfriend abandoned her during a hike in the woods, ” signing the post @hell_line0 and adding: “The comments were all about how this is a thing multiple men do. It’s so common it’s called Alpine Divorce and there are support groups for it…All I can say is wtf is wrong with men??? Why would you ever consider abandoning someone that way? I’m mortified. ”
TikTok videos and accounts
One recently viral video appears to match that description. TikToker @everafteriya posted POV footage that showed her walking alone on a rocky trail and included the caption: “POV: you go on a hike with him in the mountains but he leaves you alone by yourself and you realize he never liked you to begin with. ” The clip has racked up over two million views since it was first uploaded, and a separate social post said the TikTok had 4. 4 million views on February 23, 2026.
@everafteriya later clarified that, while on the hike, the man she was with said he “wanted to get to the top of the mountain before other people on the trail, so he said let’s run. ” She said that is how they were split up, because he ran ahead faster than she did. Her account of events have not yet been verified.
Historical origin and literature
It is unclear where the term originated, but one early usage comes from an 19th century short story by Robert Barr called An Alpine Divorce, in which a man schemes to kill his wife on a trip to the Swiss Alps.
Austrian manslaughter case
Clarifying the real-world stakes, an Austrian climber was convicted of manslaughter after he abandoned his girlfriend — described in the case as a less experienced climber — on the Grossglockner mountain in January 2025, where she died of hypothermia. During the trial, it emerged he had done the same thing to a previous girlfriend two years prior; that earlier woman ultimately survived.
Broader internet reaction
Other videos on social platforms show women claiming to have been left behind on hikes, and one popular multi-part video series from 2024 drew outrage on TikTok before being taken down, although stitches and compilations with commentary still exist. Commenters on the viral clips have shared personal anecdotes — one wrote, “I legit had this happen on a hike in YOSEMITE. ” Others referenced support groups: “happens frequently enough that there’s a support group for survivors. ”
Some posts around the trend expressed anger and alarm, with at least one user suggesting armed self-defense. Whether alpine divorce is a widespread, largely unreported phenomenon is unclear in the provided context, but the mix of a recent manslaughter conviction, viral TikToks and resurfaced historical language has produced genuine concern and anger among many users.
Other trending culture items
The discussion of alpine divorce has appeared amid a slate of other viral internet culture stories. Observers have been picking apart Erika Kirk’s expressions during a State of the Union address after President Donald Trump named Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow, as an honoree; when the camera cut to her, viewers said her expression seemed out of place and many claimed she was faking her sorrow. A TikTok creator’s breakup video highlighted a boyfriend’s YouTube watch history filled with playlists and videos with titles such as “Put her to work” and “Women want to care for you. ”
Other items circulating online included a promotional push for local deals promising discounts up to 70% off, brands and Flavor Flav rallying behind the U. S. women’s hockey team after a misogynistic joke aimed at the men’s team, social imagining of a Silicon Valley set in 2026, AMC’s decision not to play an AI short film on Thanksgiving Day, a man who ended a 10-year friendship after not being invited to a wedding, an NYPD criminal investigation launched after a snowball fight, 16 people listing things they now buy that they couldn’t as children, and an item noting that Chris from Love Is Blind reportedly became a psych class case study.
The phrase alpine divorce has been thrust into mainstream conversation by viral social posts, courtroom developments and historical references, and the debate over how common and how dangerous the practice is remains active online.
Close observers note survivors and commentators are both raising safety concerns and calling for clearer verification of individual claims.
