Skiing Sustainability Essay

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1. Introduction Sustainability, as an issue, has been the subject of widespread debate for ages now. While some people cannot associate themselves with the concept, others are too agnostic about the implementation of practices which can result in a win-win scenario for all. Another subset even wonders if the practices itself are sustainable or not. Such different views helps little to achieve the objective, when it is itself difficult to begin with. A large portion of the literature on sustainability focuses on the issues and the impacts in traditional sectors like energy, tourism etc. The purpose of this article is to highlight the sustainability issues in the sports industry, how the industry is affecting the environment, the roles played …show more content…

But, skiing has major environmental impacts that we cannot even comprehend. The ski terrain gets transformed into environmentally sensitive high-alpine regions. Also, as the growing seasons are short, it doesn’t give them enough time to grow and recover. The constant trails left during skiing results in soil erosion, as it removes the top layer of the soil – the shrubs and the small trees which help in anchoring the soil. Ski slopes also dangerously impacts the landscape, as sometimes they are created for the benefit and convenience of the players, and they start encroaching upon the private lands, which leads to even more commercialization and subsequent exploitation. As this is played in the natural habitat, it involves sever impact to the endangered species. At times, it is even incomprehensible. Another great impact is of the waste water and the snow formation. The resulting environment left by skiing contains harmful levels of pesticides and toxins. This gets mixed in the water and the snow, and travels to surrounding areas contaminating …show more content…

is a section of sports which is characterized by extreme risk-taking, where any mistake or failure might result in serious injuries or death. It is necessary to study this, as the individual undertakes this sport of his own volition, and every individual has different reasons to do so. Further, the impact caused by a single individual can be more potent in this setting. Thus, this produces challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. Researchers have interacted with a lot of extreme sports enthusiasts and have come to a conclusion that they can play a major part. The main reason identified here is that people generally tend to indulge in these kinds of activities as they want to challenge nature. A Mount Everest climb, or a bungee-jump from the highest point is the individual’s way of standing up to nature. Also, the exposure that these types of sports get is enormous and some events are characterized by huge media

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