The slopes were gnarly that day.
Snow days for wildlife aren’t always a lot of fun. While most of us humans have the option of stocking up and staying indoors, animals out in the wild just have to fight through the elements… whether they are prepared for it or not. This deer in West Virginia had no idea how to handle the snow and ice that fell in it’s home state over the weekend.
Much of lower 48 got hit by Winter Storm Fern over the weekend. The weather event brought snow, sleet, and freezing rain to much of the southern United States – and then continued to move up into the northeast. Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed, and traveling by car became increasingly difficult in many parts of the country (and still is).
Nashville arguably got hit by the freezing rain the hardest, though many parts of the south (like Mississippi) were also impacted by crippling winter weather.
And states like West Virginia also got slammed with dangerous winter weather as the storm moved up towards the northeast United States. The “Mountain State” got around 2 to 4 inches of snow, and anywhere from a tenth to a quarter of an inch of ice. Though that might not seem like a lot, that amount of ice by itself can be problematic. That on top of snow is a recipe for some really slippery surfaces.
The deer in this video learned that the hard way. It was trying to traverse a hillside in West Virginia when it lost it’s footing (hoofing?) and started slipping down the snow and ice. The animal wasn’t ever able to stop the slide, and was only slowed when it hit something at the bottom of the hill.
The good news is that it got up and appeared to be okay (probably just a little dazed and startled by it all). And the better news is that the person who took the video planned on going around the property and breaking up the ice so that this would be less likely to happen, as explained by the post below:
“This video of a deer sliding down an icy West Virginia hillside is quickly going viral. The guy who posted said he will be taking a tractor around the property to break up the ice and make it easier for wildlife to navigate.”
That’s what you call an unintentional ski trip.
Social media users that came across the video were both amused and sympathetic. On one hand, the deer sliding down the hill and not being able to throw on the breaks made for an impromptu snow day activity. On the other, if that animal was planning on going back up that slope… it was going to have a tough time doing so:
I like how he looks around at the end as if saying “Nobody saw that, right?”
— 𒆜 🇩🇷 Nobody Special (@drnobodyspecial) January 26, 2026
Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!😂 Deer are tough, she’s fine!
— Jenny (@TXTruther152) January 26, 2026
that’s why I stopped skiing https://t.co/NglI9dsPGH
— KenMatthews (@KenMatthews) January 26, 2026
Poor thing
— Tammie McDonald 🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@TammieMcDonal17) January 26, 2026
Breaks my heart. Doesn’t look like he was hurt. Hope he gets home safely
— Suzanne Atkinson, MD (@SteelCityCoach) January 26, 2026
