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Much of the theory and sociological and social psychological research on sports view this activity in competitive terms; people engage in sport to compete against other participants be they present or historical, in real time or on paper (e.g., most career home runs, largest of a species of fish). Outings in nature regarded as leisure activity constitute a main way in which today's
By sport we mean inter-human, competitive, physical activity based on a recognized set of rules and possibly related customs. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (5th ed.) defines sport similarly, as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill, Hobbyist collecting of natural objects (shells, leaves, rocks, etc.) Orienteering Back-country skiing, snowboarding Caving, canyoning Mushrooming (gathering edibles or scientific specimens) Bird watching Amateur ornithology, astronomy, botany, entomology, meteorology, mineralogy – the natural challenge is to find new phenomena, rare but known phenomena, predict weather, and so on. Search and rescue, maintaining hiking and cross-country ski trails, volunteering as an NCA Sailing Wilderness camping Trapping
Be that as it may, most activity participants seem to prefer one of the other two kinds of hobbies in this subtype: nature activities and corporeal activities in nature.
This extremely diverse set of interests is pursued in the outdoors. Sorted here into the categories of nature appreciation, nature challenge, and nature exploitation, most are enjoyed most of the time away from towns and cities. Still, within the natural areas in the towns and cities, we may be able to fish, watch birds, cross-country ski, and fly model airplanes, to mention a few possibilities.
At the center of the nature appreciation activities lies the awe-inspiring natural environment in which they take place. Seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling the surroundings — “getting out in nature” — add up to a powerful reason for doing one or more of the following:
hiking horse riding back packing/wilderness camping spelunking (cave exploration) bird-watching canoeing/kayaking scuba diving/snorkeling snowshoeing snowmobiling
Another important reason for pursuing these activities is to learn and express the skills and knowledge needed to find fulfillment in them. At this level they are serious leisure.
A nature challenge activity (NCA) is a leisure pursuit whose core activity or activities centre on meeting a test posed by the surrounding natural environment. As have pointed out elsewhere, considerable nature appreciation is also possible in these activities, though at times the challenges are so stiff that they concentrate the mind more or less exclusively on trying to meet them. These activities include:
ballooning flying gliding wave surfing alpine skiing snowboarding scuba diving cross-country skiing sailing (with sail/engine) parachuting and skydiving hang gliding mountain climbing white water canoeing and kayaking dirt (trail) bike riding (non-competitive)
Thus, an accomplished cross-country skier can savor the beauty of the snow-covered trees and partially frozen streams near trails set on moderate terrain. But then, a steep descent with a sharp turn in the middle suddenly diverts all attention to skiing technique.
In these hobbies, if all goes well, participants come away from their sessions in nature with some of its “yield,” as experienced in among others:
fishing hunting trapping mushroom gathering
Yet, the fishers, hunters, and others do appreciate nature as well, though less when they are in flow with a fish on the line or a deer in their sights.
A number of familiar outdoor activities are excluded from these three lists, primarily because they are casual rather than serious leisure (e.g., camping in parks, berry picking, beachcombing). Furthermore, some of the activities just discussed, including sailing, alpine skiing, and cross-country skiing, are sometimes also pursued as exploitation.
The four articles in this issue of
RS: Writing – original draft. FG: Writing – review & editing. LD: Writing – review & editing. SG: Writing – review & editing.
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