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Alpine skiing practices reveal profound tensions and entanglements of more-than-human relationships.
The study sheds light on new forms of interaction between people, snow and landscape.
Differential debate promotes new perspectives and the creation of alternative futures.
Skiing as a practice can reveal insights into the interplay between nature, tourism and leisure behavior.
Abstract of the study
This study conceptualizes alpine skiing as a leisure practice in the context of the Anthropocene. It uses a critical perspective and a diffractive methodology. The aim is to uncover and thematize the multi-layered relationships to snow and landscapes in alpine skiing.
Using diffractive vignettes, the results illustrate the tensions and interdependencies at the heart of alpine skiing. It is shown how these tensions are important for the human-nature relationship and the future of tourism.
The study makes a contribution by showing how a diffractive approach to leisure activities can help to promote challenging yet positive attitudes ("thinking-with") in dealing with diverse stakeholders in hopeful futures of tourism.
Key findings of this study
- Alpine skiing as a practice: The study conceptualizes alpine skiing as a recreational practice in the context of the Anthropocene.
- New linkages: Through the application of a diffractive methodology, multi-layered relationships with snow and landscapes are revealed and critiqued, severing traditional oppositions and boundaries between humans and nature.
- Potential for a speculative future: The diffractive examination is intended to promote new, caring and thinking-with attitudes towards various actors for hopeful futures in alpine skiing.