Ski guiding and risk management - A qualitative study on Nortind educated ski guides
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https://hdl.handle.net/10037/32145Dato
2023-11-01Type
Master thesisMastergradsoppgave
Forfatter
Wenseth, MichaelSammendrag
Avalanche fatalities claim lives in Norway each year. Yet, there is limited research on how ski
guides ensure safety and manage risks on behalf of their clients. By studying how ski guides,
educated through The Norwegian Mountain Guide Association (Nortind), manage this, I seek
to fill this gap. The study is based on seven semi-structured interviews, supplemented by my
autoethnographic reflections on being a ski-guide. Combined, these two methods have
allowed me to tap into ski guides practices, thoughts, and strategies for ensuring safety. The
thesis draws on literature on risk and safety in adventure tourism and guiding, and
performance theory. I identified four partly overlapping themes. Theme one addresses the
importance of planning and pre-tour meetings in managing clients' expectations as crucial
components of a successful ski tour. Theme two shows the significance of gaining clients’
trust. Theme three explores how the ski guides perform safety and manage risk. Theme four
unpacks how the ski guides create good experiences as a tool to avoid exposing clients to
unnecessary risk. A tread in all themes is how the guides constantly work on impression
management to adapt to clients' preferences, skills, and perceptions of risk, ultimately
facilitating safe and enjoyable adventures. An understanding of how professional ski guides
navigate avalanche risk is beneficial for prevent future avalanche accidents for recreational
skiers as well as professionals.
Forlag
UiT The Arctic University of NorwayUiT Norges arktiske universitet
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