Powder fever and its impact on decision-making in avalanche terrain

We examined the effect of emotions, associated with “powder fever”, on decision-making in avalanche terrain. Background: Skiing in avalanche terrain is a voluntary activity that exposes the participant to potentially fatal risk. Impaired decision-making in this context can therefore have devastating results, often with limited prior corrective feedback and learning opportunities. Previous research has suggested that arousal caused by emotions affects risk assessment and intentions to engage in risky behavior. We propose that powder fever may induce similar responses. Methods: We used the following two experimental methods: laboratory studies with visual visceral stimuli (ski movies) and a field study with real stimuli (skiing exciting terrain). We evaluated the effect of emotions on attention, risk assessment, and willingness to expose oneself and others to risk. Results: Both the laboratory studies and the field study showed that skiing-related stimuli had a relatively strong effect on reported emotions. However, we found very few significant effects on decision-making or assessment of risk. Conclusions: Skiing activities make people happier. However, despite the clear parallels to sexual arousal, powder fever does not appear to significantly impair decision-making in our study. More research on the effects of powder fewer on milder forms of risk-taking behavior is needed

Behavior in Avalanche Terrain: An Exploratory Study of Illegal Snowmobiling in Norway

Snowmobilers make a grim and significant contribution to avalanche fatality statistics in Norway. However, there is limited knowledge on the behavior of this group in avalanche terrain and the factors influencing this behavior. Our study documents what snowmobilers do and not do in avalanche terrain, how their behavior relates to managing complex avalanche conditions and if there is a mismatch between avalanche competence, education and riding preferences. This ethnographic study observed snowmobiler tracks and thus avalanche terrain usage in Northern Norway during 2018 and 2019, supported by open-ended conversations with target group riders. Results show that high-marking lost popularity to technical riding, which seems to be perceived as safer despite increased exposure to complex avalanche terrain and conditions with persistent weak layers in the snowpack. The detected mismatch between preferences and avalanche knowledge/attitude will remain an obstacle to future accident prevention efforts unless behavioral changes are addressed. This study of a predominantly illegal activity sheds light on how to explore and observe hard-to-reach illegal activities and should be of interest to a wider audience from other research disciplines

The Thrill of Speedy Descents: A Pilot Study on Differences in Facially Expressed Online Emotions and Retrospective Measures of Emotions During a Downhill Mountain-Bike Descent

When extreme sport athletes explain the engagement behind their taxing and risky endeavors, they often refer to the happiness generated by the activities. However, during the activity, these athletes seem neither pleased nor happy. This article proposes some answers from a study of facially expressed emotions measured moment by moment during downhill mountain biking. Self-reported emotions were also assessed immediately after the trip was over. The participants display less happiness during the activity than before and after the activity. No significant associations between facially expressed and self-reported emotions were observed. Findings are discussed with reference to the functional well-being approach arguing that some momentary feelings are non-evaluative in the sense of being caused by the difficulty of the ongoing activity. Within this framework, easy tasks produce happy feelings while difficult tasks produce interest—regardless of whether a goal has been reached or not. By contrast, retrospective emotions involve the evaluation of the activity in relation to its goal. When a goal is accomplished, the accompanying feeling is positive. If a goal (or value) is threatened, lost, or not achieved, negative feelings follow

Feeling and Thinking about It Are Two Different Things: How to Capture Momentary Emotions of Extreme Sports in the Field

To learn about extreme sports and what motivates such activities, we need to understand the emotions embedded in the experience itself. However, how we go about assessing these emotions might provide us with very different answers. An experience is a fleeting and ever-changing phenomenon, rich in detail and filled with nuances. What we remember and, therefore, what we are able to report from our experience might, however, be strikingly different to what we experienced. Our memories are grained by time, impaired by arousal, and affected by context. Despite these limitations, the most common way to measure an experience is by self reporting. The current paper reviews some of the relevant theory on emotions and how this might impact different assessments. I also describe a new way of measuring momentary emotions in the field by use of video cameras and automatic coding of facially expressed emotions. Extreme sports may leave us with positive memories but may be anything but pleasant while in the midst of them. In the end, this paper may give some hints to why

Feeling the extreme : an exploratory study of experienced emotions during extreme sport

In the current study 13 BASE-jumpers and 18 skydivers reported their emotions immediately after a jump and after a 24 hours delay, using verbal (Likert-like scales) and visual (Feelometer) emotional report. Heart rate measures were also collected during, and 24 hours after the jump. The Feelometer is a newly developed tool enabling the participants to give a moment-to-moment report from a particular event or episode. Given the complexity and dynamics of extreme sport experiences, the Feelometer is a promising supplement to verbal reports when it comes to measuring emotional feelings. Compared with everyday episodes, the results from the current study suggest that extreme sport episodes produce more heterogenous feeling states with a clear distinction between otherwise relatively similar feelings. The Feelometer further revealed that during the jump, participants experienced huge variation in pleasure, but relatively stable levels of interest. The variation reported for pleasure suggests that it is hard to summarize an extreme sport event on a verbal rating scale, intented to cover the entire episode. This result may explain why the study did not find any significant correlations between verbally and visually reported immediate pleasure. However, in retrospect the verbal and visualized reported emotions correlated significantly

El maquiavelismo en las relaciones internacionales. La anexión de Portugal a España en 1580

The snowy mountains of the world attract more and more backcountry recreationalists. Besides beauty and joy, traveling in avalanche terrain can involve risk of injury and even death. A correct assessment of avalanche danger and following a correct decision is crucial. This requires a thorough evaluation of a range of factors. To aid these decisions several decision-making frameworks (DMF) have been put forward. However, actual use of these frameworks and their underlying factors can be questioned. We asked 100 experts about their familiarity and usage of the DMFs and their underlying factors. We found a large discrepancy between familiarity with and actual use of the most commonly used DMFs. In contrast to most frameworks that have a probabilistic approach, experts primarily use an analytical one. We also found that experts use more factors and emphasize other factors than most DMFs do. Indeed, the factors the experts use do not match any of the DMFs well, with the agreement ranging from 56% to 73%. Factors seen as core in many frameworks, such as the combination of danger level and slope inclination, are by a large margin the least used of all the terrain factors among the experts. We found a void between the existing frameworks and how – and on what basis – experts make their decisions. Our findings raise a fundamental question: How, when and where do the transition from novice to expert occur? Future initiatives to revise or develop new decision-making frameworks should take into account what experts use

Updating in the mountains : a sensemaking perspective on ski guiding

For a ski guide, updating on the ever-changing natural conditions and group dynamics is essential to stay safe and provide a good experience for clients. In this paper, we explore how guides update their understanding in the mountains. Our data arise out of a one-season participant ethnography of ski guiding in Norway. The research team had two authors collecting data, one as an “outsider” and another as an “insider”. We find that the work of a ski guide involves a process of monitoring, testing, and projecting. Complementing and challenging the avalanche literature, we find that ski guide decision-making is an embodied updating process rather than a cognitive one that happens at “decision points”. We highlight the implications of these findings both for guides and researchers. Management implications: Continuous updating is critical for adapting to changing conditions and for breaking with set frames of understanding. Therefore, guides should not overly rely on decision aids or fixed decisions. Guides should listen to their intuition when something “feels off” and be in doubt when something “feels right”. Clients should acknowledge that they are an active part of the setting and, therefore, influence the outcome with both direct and indirect actions. Updating relies on the continuous monitoring, testing, and projecting of ecological and social cues. Neither type should be viewed in isolation

Should I Judge Safety or Danger? Perceived Risk Depends on the Question Frame

Linguistic polarity is a natural characteristic of judgments: Is that situation safe/dangerous? How difficult/easy was the task? Is that politician honest/dishonest? Across six studies (N = 1599), we tested how the qualitative frame of the question eliciting a risk judgment influenced risk perception and behavior intention. Using a series of hypothetical scenarios of skiing in avalanche terrain, experienced backcountry skiers judged either how safe or how dangerous each scenario was and indicated whether they would ski the scenario. Phrasing risk judgments in terms of safety elicited lower judged safety values, which in turn resulted in a lower likelihood of intending to ski the slope. The frame “safe” did not evoke a more positive assessment than the frame “danger” as might be expected under a valence-consistent or communication-driven framing effect. This seemingly paradoxical direction of the effect suggests that the question frame directed attention in a way that guided selective information sampling. Uncertainty was not required for this effect as it was observed when judging objectively safe, uncertain, and dangerous scenarios. These findings advance our theoretical understanding of framing effects and can inform the development of practices that harness question framing for applied risk perception and communication

Avalanche decision-making frameworks: Classification and description of underlying factors

Snow avalanches are a complex phenomenon and correctly assessing avalanche danger is crucial in order to avoid accidents. To aid the decision-making process, different decision-making frameworks (DMFs) have been developed. However, each DMF assesses different factors. We identified 44 factors included in the ten most commonly used DMFs, supplemented by nine factors regarded as important by avalanche professionals, resulting in 53 factors. We classify and describe each factor's possible strengths, weaknesses and limitations. Many factors are shared by the DMFs, but there are differences when it comes to type of factor and emphasis. The number of factors used by the different DMFs varies from 11 to 31. 81 out of 100 experts who participated in our survey use >33 factors in their decision-making, and regard other factors as more important than the ones emphasised in most DMFs. We discuss the usage of the factors and provide recommendations. Our classification and description of the factors contribute to a better understanding of why the developers of the different DMFs have included them in their frameworks. This is fundamental for a better understanding of expert use or lack of use of DMFs, and why some DMFs or single factors are preferred to others

Communicating public avalanche warnings – what works?

Like many other mountainous countries, Norway has experienced a rapid increase in both recreational winter activities and fatalities in avalanche terrain during the past few decades: during the decade 2008–2017, 64 recreational avalanche fatalities were recorded in Norway. This is a 106% increase from that of the previous decade. In 2013, Norway therefore launched the National Avalanche Warning Service (NAWS), which provides avalanche warnings to transport and preparedness authorities and to the public. Previous studies suggest that avalanche warnings are used extensively in trip and preparedness planning and have a relatively strong influence on the decisions people make in order to reduce risk. However, no evaluation concerning how efficiently the warnings are communicated and understood has been done to date in Norway. Avalanche warnings communicate complex natural phenomena with a variable complexity and level of uncertainty about both the future and the present. In order to manage avalanche risk successfully, it is fundamental that the warning message can be understood and translated into practice by a wide range of different user groups. Users with little or no avalanche competence may need simple information to decide when to stay away from avalanche terrain, while professional users may need advanced technical details in order to make their decisions. To evaluate how different modes of communication are understood, and how efficiently the informational content is communicated, we designed and implemented a web-based user survey. The modes of presentation were based on the Varsom.no 2017 version (Varsom.no being the national portal for natural hazard warnings in Norway). We first used a panel of 110 experts from NAWS to answer the survey, and used their answers to establish the indented message of the avalanche warning. We thereafter received responses from 264 users and compared their answers to those of the NAWS experts for the different modes of communication. We developed a method, the comprehension effectiveness score, to test the comprehension. Our empirical analyses suggest that most users find the warning service to be useful and well suited to their needs. However, the effectiveness of a warnings seems to be influenced by the competency of the user and the complexity of the scenarios. We discuss the findings and make recommendations on how to improve communication of avalanche warnings