Women are being abandoned by their partners on hiking trails. What's behind alpine divorce'?

"Five years ago, MJ and a new partner traveled from Los Angeles to Utah for an adventure getaway. But on the morning of their big hike, MJ was not feeling well. She could not shake the feeling that something was off; indeed, MJ would learn on this trip that her partner was seeing other women. As they made their way up Angel's Landing, MJ's partner started walking faster than her."

"When she caught up at the top of the mountain, they took a picture together. Then her partner hiked down the mountain with a woman he had met on the way up, leaving MJ to finish by herself. They broke up shortly after that trip. Last month, MJ opened TikTok and heard the phrase alpine divorce, a label she now attaches to her experience in Zion."

"On social media, women describe alpine divorce as going on a hike, climb or other outdoor adventure with a male partner, only to be abandoned or left behind—perhaps he went too fast and neglected to wait, or a fight on the trail resulted in him storming off. Breakups have quickly followed."

Alpine divorce is a social media phenomenon where women are abandoned or left behind by male partners during hiking, climbing, or outdoor adventures. MJ experienced this five years ago at Zion National Park when her partner hiked down with another woman he met, leaving her alone. She was already dealing with discovering his infidelity during the trip. The term gained viral attention on TikTok, with women sharing similar experiences of partners going too fast, neglecting to wait, or storming off after trail conflicts. These incidents frequently precede relationship breakups. MJ describes her experience as small trauma, acknowledging it triggered unresolved emotional responses despite recognizing others have endured worse.

Read at www.theguardian.com