How skiers´ sensations shaped Alpine valleys during the 20th century

The environmental history of winter tourism in the Austrian Alps is as yet unwritten. Using the westernmost province of Austria, Vorarlberg, this study aims to remedy this lacuna. Winter tourism has profound effects on Alpine landscapes as well as on social and economic structures in remote valleys. Investigating the period from the 1920s to the present, the long-term-development of Alpine winter tourism will be studied. The study uses unpublished archival data, in particular maps, contemporary newspapers, technical literature on tourism infrastructure, promotional material and interviews with contemporary witnesses. A geographical information system (GIS) is used to integrate all these materials as well as data on soil, vegetation, topography and elevation to allow for space-sensitive analysis. During winter tourism development, social structures in Alpine villages changed profoundly. Using the cases of Lech, Damüls and Schruns/Montafon, differences in development shall be elucidated. Power structures in villages changed as they went from agriculture to tourism, technological systems grew from small-scale lifts to large technological systems (LTGs) and in this process tourists` perception of the landscape they used for winter sports changed profoundly. Political, social and economic ramifications and consequences are necessary parts of an environmental history of Alpine space which takes into account both the ecological effects and the ways how human bodies were shaping and were shaped in interaction with technified nature. This study is based on the novel concept of socio-ecological niche construction, developed in a previous study of Alpine tourism (Groß 2010). The project will lead to a monograph summarizing the long-term development of Alpine ski tourism in Vorarlberg and will also lead to several peer-reviewed publications and conference papers. The monograph will be divided into three chapters, according to the project organization. The first chapter covers the changes of the cultural conception of Alpine winter landscapes, as well as the related tourism practices and skiers` body sensations over the 20th century. The main focus of the second chapter is the penetration of the "1950s Syndrome" into Alpine valleys. It covers the technological development of winter tourism infrastructure, as well as the connected conservationists` and environmentalists` discourses. This chapter shows how material- and energy availability affects infrastructures, landscapes and the reaction of civil society. In the third chapter case studies of Lech am Arlberg, Damüls and Schruns/Montafon will show how the development of tourism affects small scaled socio-ecological systems in a long-term perspective. The project is planned for 36 months and includes field research in the villages, as well as a series of archival stays in Bregenz, Lech, Schruns, Innsbruck and Munich, following the theoretical foundation of the project during the first 9 months.

How did alpine villages, attainable only by mule paths and threatened by demographic and economic collapse, transform into hubs of international ski tourism? What happened in this transformation process with the Alpine landscapes? At the beginning there was back country skiing. After hours of ascent one downhill glide could be completed. A pleasure for only few. Providing mechanical ski lifts changed the sport completely. Even untrained people were attracted by the winter Alps. Snow groomers became inevitable to support them. A spiral of modernization, expansion and intensification began to turn, which completely transformed peripheries. Nature and culture of the villages are totally transformed due to a combination of economic and political conditions, technical interventions and successful marketing. How skiers sensations shaped Alpine valleys produced the first integrated environmental history of cultural landscapes in Vorarlberg as transformed by practices and infrastructures of winter tourism from 1920 to 2010. For reconstructing past conditions of winter sport landscapes, settlement development and land use, a GIS-based ski slope database, combining historical maps, archival material, aerial images and interviews with retired snow groomer driver was set up. The quantitative information of the spatial development of ski slopes was combined with transport capacity- and meteorological data to create an integrated view on winter sport landscapes as socio-natural hybrids. These quantitative databases were combined with a qualitative analysis of technical magazines dealing with innovations of the ski lift industry, ski slope engineering and snow farming practices. Political aspects as well as the interests of national economy were integrated into the project by the study of official records but also by a series of interviews with actors e.g. NGOs, public administration, farmers and ski lift businessman. Investigating the interplay of farming and tourism practices provided new insights into conflicts and problem solving strategies among the involved social groups. Results of How skiers sensations shaped Alpine valleys are to date published in two peer-reviewed journal articles and five other articles and book chapters. A monograph in the making is the most important product. The project was presented to a wide range of scientific communities at several international and national scientific conferences, workshops and seminars (in sum, 20 presentations). The project results were made available through science to public- activities for different stakeholder groups. Project results were disseminated to a broader public via articles and interviews in newspapers, journals and TV documentaries.