"Skiing with" - exploring winter tourism ethnographically

Abstract of the study

In this research publication, "skiing-with" is proposed as an ethnographic research method to study the snowy landscapes and their current challenges at close range.
Skiing is a traditional way of moving on and in the snow and has currently become the center of (alpine) winter tourism. However, the ski business is facing key challenges due to climate change, uncertain snow conditions and demographic developments.
Building on the tradition of ethnographic and situational methods of field research, the project examines how skiing itself as an ethnographic method helps to rethink the current challenges of sustainability from a new knowledge and perspective. Through "skiing-with", a new understanding of how the priorities of ski tourism in snowy landscapes can be recognized and (re)shaped through everyday leisure and work practices will be developed.
In this way, an ethnographic research method for tourism researchers and the phenomenon of winter tourism is illustrated.

Key findings of this study

• New perspective on sustainability in winter tourism: "Skiing-with" is proposed as an ethnographic research method to investigate current fields of tension in snowy landscapes at close range. This nuanced method of field research, based on feminist and post-humanist approaches, helps to rethink sustainability challenges from a new way of knowing and seeing.
• Ethnographic sensitivity in different situations: The everyday and working practices examined in ski resorts in Austria, Finland and France reveal the diverse entanglements of the ski landscape. These historical and contemporary traces include not only skiers and nature, but also technology (such as snow groomers and satellite systems) and its impact and limits in the daily shaping of ski tourism.
• Importance of local distancing: The disruption to normal ski operations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to a new distancing from the usual tourism business. In these quieter times, local well-being, proximity to familiar places and the social aspects of skiing came to the fore. Through ethnographic research, the emotional and affective level of skiing can also be explored.
• Sustainability as a field of tension: Modern skiing is strongly characterized by consumption, luxury and market logics. These logics are sometimes contrary to the goals of sustainability and create areas of tension in economically, socially and ecologically responsible action.
• Critical reflection at a local level: "Skifahren-mit" does not aim to find simple solutions or romanticize skiing; it sheds light on the complexity and inherent contradictions of winter tourism. The method offers a way to critically question these areas of tension in the everyday working and leisure practices of skiing and to identify alternative paths for winter tourism.