Extreme sports in winter holidays- trend or risk?
Author: Patricia Mutter
1 Commentries
Travelling for sport as well as the concept of sport related tourism has become a significant term in the tourism industry over the last years (Tonge 2007:2-6). Mountain regions offer a wide range of possibilities for activities and are therefore attractive adventure tourism destinations. Further they have a symbolic representation of adventure. They are wild and rough which are often characterised by extreme weather conditions which symbolized objective danger (Beedie and Hudson 2003: 23). During the last few years there is a strong growth of winter sport activities with a high level of risk for the participant. According to the "Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association" since the increase of the snowboarding business alpine skiing has a strong decline (Simpson 2002: 1).
In fact there are developed many new extreme sport activities but there is no strict defined list of sports which belong to the extreme sport market segment. Freestyle skiing and snow biking are some of the new developments in winter sports. The first mentioned sport activity has been developed as a new trend in winter sport. The fun to try new tricks lies in the foreground of this sport. In contrast to the traditional ski sport the athletics drive over mogul fields, jump figures from a ski jump and a half pipe. (Hudson 2003: 73). These sport activity is offered by a variety of tour operators. The tour operators mention on their websites the risk which can occur and recommend wearing helmet and backing projectors to avoid dangerous injuries (Hawkins and Hudman 1989: 34).
There are also world championships in this sport and since 1992 it is a part of Olympic winter games. It is already proved in statistics that many snowboarders changed to freestyle skiing which shows that this sport is not insignificant for the future in winter sports.
Another new sport which has been already discovered the winter sport market is snow biking. This sport is presented in advertisements as more less dangerous than the above mentioned example. Sport tourists cross mountains regions and doing stunts by bike. Particularly this kind of extreme sport is also offered for handicapped people or people with disabilities.
That gives this extreme sport a gentler image because people do not associate handicapped people with extreme sport. Many websites of the tour operators who offer this sport explain the consumer that they have a variety of good trained staff who knows the needs of disabled people (Deville and Loetscher 1987: 9).
All these sports have a high level of danger and involve speed, height and rough places and physical exertion. The athletics has no controlled circumstances because the natural environment in the mountains cannot be controlled. That is significant challenge and obstacle for the athletic.
There are many risks which can occur in such sports but especially that are big motivation factor for sport tourists. The goal of most of the extreme sport tourists or athletics is to experience the personal physical and emotional extend. Furthermore they want to do things what nobody else has done so far. Usually extreme sport athletics are not fearless "go-getter". They are top sportspersons to plump their borders. They can border the risk of their projects with the help of a good preparation regarding weather, team, and equipment (Hall 2007: 11).
Professor Bette (2003) claimed that elements of the motivations of the people are to be contempt for a mass of people, freedom fantasies and the demand to be lonely. Bette adds that the athletics want to be different from the other people in the society. Voluntary self- endangering helps to be different. The reason for it is that healthcare and the contemporary culture of enjoyment play a big role for the "general" people.
In conclusion it can be said that extreme sports are a trend. The changes of the tourist's motivations as well as the strong interest to "excitement" in winter sports have built a way for more innovative forms of winter sports. It was already mentioned above that the improvements in technology enable to create a more security way of doing extreme sports. Risk is still an important criterion for people in choosing winter sport activities but it is not a factor which forces them not doing this kind of sport. All in all it could be said that risk plays not any longer a big influencing role for the consumer like for 10 years. Therefore it can be said that extreme sports will become to an increasing sector in winter sports as well as adventure tourism in general. It is important that people think about the risk before and during doing these kinds of sports.
Tonge, V. (1998) an investigation into the role of ski tourists level of awareness of responsible tourism issues in determining destination choice, graduate research project pp. 2-6.
Hudson, S. (2003) Sport and adventure tourism, New York: the Haworth hospitality press p 73.
Hall, S. (2007) Introducing a risk assessment model for sport venues, The sport journal Vol. 10 (2) p. 3.
In fact there are developed many new extreme sport activities but there is no strict defined list of sports which belong to the extreme sport market segment. Freestyle skiing and snow biking are some of the new developments in winter sports. The first mentioned sport activity has been developed as a new trend in winter sport. The fun to try new tricks lies in the foreground of this sport. In contrast to the traditional ski sport the athletics drive over mogul fields, jump figures from a ski jump and a half pipe. (Hudson 2003: 73). These sport activity is offered by a variety of tour operators. The tour operators mention on their websites the risk which can occur and recommend wearing helmet and backing projectors to avoid dangerous injuries (Hawkins and Hudman 1989: 34).
There are also world championships in this sport and since 1992 it is a part of Olympic winter games. It is already proved in statistics that many snowboarders changed to freestyle skiing which shows that this sport is not insignificant for the future in winter sports.
Another new sport which has been already discovered the winter sport market is snow biking. This sport is presented in advertisements as more less dangerous than the above mentioned example. Sport tourists cross mountains regions and doing stunts by bike. Particularly this kind of extreme sport is also offered for handicapped people or people with disabilities.
That gives this extreme sport a gentler image because people do not associate handicapped people with extreme sport. Many websites of the tour operators who offer this sport explain the consumer that they have a variety of good trained staff who knows the needs of disabled people (Deville and Loetscher 1987: 9).
All these sports have a high level of danger and involve speed, height and rough places and physical exertion. The athletics has no controlled circumstances because the natural environment in the mountains cannot be controlled. That is significant challenge and obstacle for the athletic.
There are many risks which can occur in such sports but especially that are big motivation factor for sport tourists. The goal of most of the extreme sport tourists or athletics is to experience the personal physical and emotional extend. Furthermore they want to do things what nobody else has done so far. Usually extreme sport athletics are not fearless "go-getter". They are top sportspersons to plump their borders. They can border the risk of their projects with the help of a good preparation regarding weather, team, and equipment (Hall 2007: 11).
Professor Bette (2003) claimed that elements of the motivations of the people are to be contempt for a mass of people, freedom fantasies and the demand to be lonely. Bette adds that the athletics want to be different from the other people in the society. Voluntary self- endangering helps to be different. The reason for it is that healthcare and the contemporary culture of enjoyment play a big role for the "general" people.
In conclusion it can be said that extreme sports are a trend. The changes of the tourist's motivations as well as the strong interest to "excitement" in winter sports have built a way for more innovative forms of winter sports. It was already mentioned above that the improvements in technology enable to create a more security way of doing extreme sports. Risk is still an important criterion for people in choosing winter sport activities but it is not a factor which forces them not doing this kind of sport. All in all it could be said that risk plays not any longer a big influencing role for the consumer like for 10 years. Therefore it can be said that extreme sports will become to an increasing sector in winter sports as well as adventure tourism in general. It is important that people think about the risk before and during doing these kinds of sports.
Tonge, V. (1998) an investigation into the role of ski tourists level of awareness of responsible tourism issues in determining destination choice, graduate research project pp. 2-6.
Hudson, S. (2003) Sport and adventure tourism, New York: the Haworth hospitality press p 73.
Hall, S. (2007) Introducing a risk assessment model for sport venues, The sport journal Vol. 10 (2) p. 3.