Carving Lines through Melting Lands: A Diffractive Engagement with Troubled and Troubling Relations of Alpine Skiing in the Anthropocene

Figures & data

Figure 1. Photographs of me skiing in one of my home resorts as a kid, dubbed with a popular song quote¹ and a vignette on (still) skiing in the Austrian Alps.

Table 1. Data snippets for diffractive engagement.

Data source	Data type	Analytical purpose
Ethnographic observations in the ski area in Obergurgl (Austria)^3	198 photos, 29 videos, transcribed voice memos, and field notes (in total 42 pages)	Understanding the economic relations and power dynamics within the alpine skiing industry
Personal memories of alpine skiing	30 photos, several poems on touching snow (4 pages total), informal conversations with family members;	Reflections on the own touchpoint and own gaze on alpine skiing and snow through the last 30 years
Secondary sources	9 newspaper articles (Addendum, 2018, 2019; APA, 2022; Panny, 2020; Prantl, 2016; Welz, 2021; Wirnsberger, 2021; Wohlgemuth, 2022; Vogt, 2022; - in total 46 pages), 2 documentaries (Patagonia, 2021; Planet e, 2021; - in total 48 min);	Centering the analysis in the broader discourse on alpine skiing with its tensions and opportunities

Figure 2. Contaminating – diffractive vignette on alpine skiing. ¹: Patagonia (2021, 00:00:34); ^2: Ethnographic field notes - Nov 13^th, 2021; ³Addendum (2019); ⁴Prantl (2016).

Figure 3. Collaborating. ¹: Patagonia (2021, 00:05:34).

Figure 4. Annihilating. ¹: Ethnographic field notes – November 14, 2021; ²: Wirnsberger (2021).

Figure 5. Speculating. ¹: Ethnographic field notes – November 14^th, 21; ²: Patagonia (2021, 00:01:27); ³: Vogt (2022).

Figure 6. Re-turning. Diffractions of me skiing today and as a kid with a poem about how skiing still matters to me.

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Wirnsberger, T. (2021). Das Ende des Skitourismus: Winter isn’t coming. Futurezone. https://futurezone.at/meinung/skifahren-tourismus-oesterreich-aus-ende-klimawandel/401827000

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Wohlgemuth, J. (2022). Klimawandel: Der Skisport in der Zwickmühle. Standard. https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000138489553/klimawandel-der-skisport-in-der-zwickmuehle

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Vogt, J. (2022). Betriebsschluss. Die Zeit. https://www.zeit.de/2022/07/skigebiet-klimawandel-pfaender-bregenz-schnee

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Patagonia. (2021). Vanishing Lines I Ski resort expansion is destroying our last living glaciers. [Video]YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eofG6Z-YBxA

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