Repository logo
 

Spent a little time on the mountain: backcountry ski touring in Utah and Colorado

dc.contributor.authorMiller, Alexander, author
dc.contributor.authorChilders, Michael, advisor
dc.contributor.authorCarr Childers, Leisl, committee member
dc.contributor.authorCheng, Tony, committee member
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-07T10:20:05Z
dc.date.available2021-06-07T10:20:05Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractBackcountry skiing has continually grown as a recreational activity since alpine skiers began leaving developed ski area boundaries in the late 1930s. Placing individuals in a less managed, sometimes hostile, winter landscape creates a significant management issue for the U.S. Forest Service. This thesis examines this issue by looking back to the sport's emergence as a popular winter recreation activity. It asks how ski tourers from the 1960s through the 1980s understood the way they used land. To answer this question, it examines the development of avalanche research and growing avalanche awareness in the Mountain West, the experience backcountry skiers sought and the mentality that created, and how that mentality established an advocacy framework aimed at protecting access to the backcountry—the area outside ski resorts and away from signs of the "works of man." Through this investigation, it highlights how the U.S. Forest Service facilitated this new form of land use, what exactly it is backcountry skiers are using, and how this use informed environmental politics. Finally, it argues that through understanding how the growing backcountry skiing community used mountain landscapes in the past, skiers, land management agencies, and the broader outdoor recreation community, can begin to come to terms with the impacts of this use and how to mitigate them.
dc.format.mediumborn digital
dc.format.mediummasters theses
dc.identifierMiller_colostate_0053N_16526.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10217/232518
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherColorado State University. Libraries
dc.relation.ispartof2020-
dc.rightsCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.
dc.subjectenvironmental history
dc.subjectskiing
dc.subjectUtah
dc.subjectpublic lands
dc.subjectColorado
dc.subjectU.S. Forest Service
dc.titleSpent a little time on the mountain: backcountry ski touring in Utah and Colorado
dc.typeText
dcterms.rights.dplaThis Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights (https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/). You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
thesis.degree.disciplineHistory
thesis.degree.grantorColorado State University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (M.A.)

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Miller_colostate_0053N_16526.pdf
Size:
714.15 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format