GEOG 175 - Greatest Snow on Earth: Geography of Skiing

Snow skiing (or snowboarding) can variously be described as a sport, a lifestyle, a career, or a passion. From its roots as a method for traversing the winter terrain of Scandinavia, human-powered snow sports have grown into a $67 billion industry involving 24 million participants in this country alone. But at its core, skiing is about the unique interaction between mountainous landscapes, regional climate patterns, and technological innovation. This course studies the activity of skiing through the lens of geographic inquiry, as geography provides the tools to investigate all the critical aspects of the sport. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the science of geography, by investigating the physical processes and cultural dynamics of the wide variety of ski disciplines in use today.