Contesting authentic practice and ethical authority in adventure tourism

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the discourses of authenticity and ethics employed by adventure tourists regarding the use of the natural environment. In one case, full-time traveling rock climbers use their dedication to the sport and annual visits to the Red River Gorge as evidence for their authoritative voice on ethical climbing practice. While they identify the growing numbers of leisure climbers as a problem for sustainability, many also take up temporary employment as guides and are directly involved in the introduction of new climbers to the area. In another case, two groups of wilderness enthusiasts – “ADK 46ers” and “Summit Stewards” – lament the environmental and social impacts of other recreational users in the Adirondack Park. Despite being visitors themselves, Summit Stewards and 46ers use their sense of place and knowledge of Adirondack history and ecology to substantiate their authority as purveyors of ethical practice. In both cases, senses of responsibility are inspired by senses of place, but are articulated through notions of authenticity and used as justification for ethical authority. While validating their presence in these outdoor spaces, the use of such rhetoric also minimizes their own impacts yielding further tensions among user groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Adventure
• authenticity
• ethics
• rhetoric
• rock climbing
• hiking

Acknowledgments

Jillian Rickly would like to acknowledge the Dissertation Year Fellowship from Indiana University that helped to fund the research with climbers in the Red River Gorge. Elizabeth Vidon would like to acknowledge the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) and SUNY-ESF's Adirondack Ecological Center and Adirondack Interpretive Center for their support and assistance during field study in the Adirondack Park.

A draft of this paper was presented at the Nordic Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality in Iceland (2015). The audience comments were much appreciated and contributed to our development of the theoretical ideas presented in this final version. The authors wish to also thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive critiques. This feedback most certainly improved the paper. With that said, any remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Sport climbing is a type of free climbing which, opposed to aid climbing that uses devices to ascend a rock face, uses only the body to move along the rock's surface. Equipment is still a necessary part of sport climbing, but it is used for safety in the case of a fall. Sport climbing employs permanent bolts in the rock that hold a hanger to which the climber clips one carabineer end of a quickdraw while threading a rope through the carabineer at the other end. Thus, sport climbing differs from its predecessor, traditional climbing, through the use of permanent bolts, rather than nuts and cams, which are temporary protective gear placed in rock features, mainly cracks.

Additional information

Funding

Indiana University that helped to fund the research with climbers in the Red River Gorge.

Notes on contributors

Jillian M. Rickly

Jillian M. Rickly is an assistant professor in the Nottingham University Business School. She is a tourism geographer working in the fields of geohumanities and mobilities.

Elizabeth S. Vidon

Elizabeth S. Vidon is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse, New York. She focuses on wilderness tourism.