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Skiing Industry Animals

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Mark C.J. Stoddart conducted a study about animals’ presence in skiing industry in his article, “Grizzlies and Gondolas: Animals and the Meaning of Skiing Landscapes in British Columbia, Canada.” When people think of skiing, most of them probably picture snow-covered nature, especially mountains and forest; however, that public perception has been overlooked one thing: “animals are also present” as the part of nature (Stoddart, 2011). The subject of this article is to examine three ways in which animals present in skiing world: animals as symbols of nature in the skiing business, environmentalists’ concern about endangered animals as a consequence of expansion of industry, and interactive interviews with encounters. He selected discourse analysis, field observation, and in-person interview for review and analysis (Stoddart, 2011). Stoddart found that a large number of resorts and hotels in British Columbia, Canada used animals as their mascots. Most of them were bears, placing them in front of entrances and websites of their facilities to “link skiing landscapes with nature and …show more content…

His effort and intent is to integrate the findings that had already been reported into what he has found which could be the starting point for future research. Stoddart write, “Animals enter skiing discourse as symbols, shaping the social meaning of skiing landscape. However, embodied bears, birds, caribou and other animals also shape skiers’ experience of mountainous nature” (Stoddart, 2011). With being captured at the same frame with animals together is certainly an unusual way to enjoy skiing in nature, as well as important not to threaten them at risk because they are, as reported in the article, “significant others” that share mountain and forests with human (cited in Stoddart,

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