An individual’s occupation is often a salient component to ones life. Numerous traditional career developmental theories have been employed in the hopes of understanding the motivations and attitudes individuals have toward particular types of careers. Research indicates that entrepreneurs are primarily motivated by monetary gain, desires to be their own boss, and career independence. The present study utilized qualitative interviews as a means to gain a greater understanding of action sports retail business owners experiences and how their identity as a surfer/skater/snowboarder influenced their career decisions and their motivations to own an action retail business. The data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research methodology (Hill, 2012). Results indicate that the business owners primarily identify as surfers/skaters/snowboarders, opposed to businessmen, and that they were primarily motivated to open their own action sport retail businesses due to their passion for the action sports and interest in remaining apart of the action sport lifestyle. These findings partly contrast previous research regarding the motivations of entrepreneurs’ primary motivation being monetary gain.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Eric A. Bernard / Many mountain resorts lack balance in revenue from season to season. Mountain resorts are most often geared toward, and capitalize on, peak ski season, receiving much less visitation and revenue in the summer season and even more so in the spring and fall. Due to projected climate changes, “increasing temperatures will affect important winter activities such as downhill and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling, which require snow on the ground. Projections indicate later snow and less snow coverage in ski resort areas” (Karl, Melillo, Peterson, 133). This indicates an even greater need for a shift to year-round attractions for visitors in order to balance the revenue stream of mountain resorts. The infusion of an all-season action sports camp is a catalyst to generate an increase in year-round visitation and profit for the resort. Examples of action sports include skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, BMX biking, and mountain biking. When integrating an action sports camp into the existing resort, striving for balance, harmony, and oneness between the existing and proposed is imperative to success. These principals are present in the sports and allow for the connection from the athletes to the landscape. With any proposed development, specifically in mountain environments, potential environmental impacts are an issue, especially at a site where the natural scenic beauty is in such high demand. “It is the resort’s environment that draws the customer” Schwanke, 119). The relationships between the mountain, resort, camp, and users must be balanced and work in harmony with each other. Copper Mountain Resort provides an ideal location to implement this strategy. Catalyst Action Sports Camp plays on the tension between the mountain and the human, capitalizing on the balance, harmony, and oneness between them. Campers are connected to the surrounding mountain majesty through directed views, inspiring and exciting them to progress their skills and challenge their fears and become one with the mountain. Catalyst is infused into the existing resort, harmonizing with resort operations and stimulating life in the village in all seasons. Ultimately,Catalyst Action Sports Camp helps balance the revenue stream and provide additional stability given changing climate scenarios.

Snowboard media producers attempt to create subculturally relevant videos that connect with the audience. Videos provide the opportunity to report and document snowboarding activity, highlight new developments and provide visibility to prominent participants and associated businesses. Being a well-known and esteemed snowboarding participant is advantageous to being a producer, as it provides an identifiable cultural capital and implies a trustworthy ‘by-riders-for-riders’ philosophy. Connecting with the viewers is vital, as the audience plays a role in the distribution of videos by sharing and endorsing them through their social networks. Motivating factors in audience media sharing, also known as media spreading, include status seeking, improving credibility, personal satisfaction and personal expression. Snowboarding was founded on anti-mainstream and anti-commercialism beliefs, which means that incorporating advertising and promotional messaging could negatively impact on audience connection. Yet, filming and producing snowboarding videos is difficult and expensive. Advertising represents an opportunity to attract funding and support to assist with production costs and, ultimately, provide profit. In order to accommodate advertising into their videos, producers are sometimes required to compromise their standards. This compromise represents a threat to audience connection. Producers believe that high quality, innovative snowboarding action footage provides the best opportunity to wow the audience. Various forms of advertising, including stealth marketing, sponsored journalism, and hybrid messaging, are often displayed in the moments between action footage shots, but advertising compromise can also affect action footage, particularly on client-funded projects. How advertising is incorporated can also depend on the industry the advertiser operates in. Alcohol brand advertising is identified as highly restrictive due to legal implications and public perceptions. Advertisers from businesses strongly related to the snowboarding subculture are more aware of their competitors’ presence in videos, which can cause conflict. Ski field support can be varied, despite high levels of visibility in the videos.

The purpose of this study was to discover what impact, if any, personal social networks have on an individual’s snowboarding skill progression, and whether any differences emerge based on gender, class, race, or age. Interviews with 10 demographically diverse snowboarders in Washington State, USA, were conducted and analyzed. The study revealed that personal social networks are highly important to snowboarding skill progression, with nine progression benefits noted. It was also found that the type of relationship was important, with the roles of gatekeepers, “godfathers,” and crews as the most critical for progression. Lastly, respondents indicated a variety of methods to access social networks, including social media, events, organizations, industry employment and through existing social networks. To further analyze the findings, an intersectional feminist reading of Castells networking theory was applied, with investigations into gender, race, class, and age patterns. The analysis revealed two overlapping values systems, one based on snowboarding ability and commitment, and one based on alignment of demographics with those who are most valued in the snowboarding world--mainly young, white, middle class men. The research closes with potential solution ideas to improve equitability and inclusion, which can be applied from the grassroots level to large-scale implementation.

The purpose of this study was to uncover the unique and devastating consequences of untreated head injuries in a population that self-monitors their return to play after an injury. The secondary purpose was to identify the general perceptions of head injuries in the action sports culture and the themes that are common challenges for action sport athletes during their TBI rehabilitation in order to examine the coping skills that were used during their attempt to return to their sport. Seven athletes were interviewed. The sports represented were snowboarding, BMX racing, BMX freestyle, and motocross. The interviews assessed the following concepts: injury experience, symptoms, recovery, perception of the sport, return to sport, personality factors, and perception of head injuries. The interviews were transcribed and coded by the researcher in order to identify common themes and perceptions. The results indicated that the high frequency of injuries in action sports contributes partially to the perception of head injuries. It is a part of the culture to ignore injuries and push through pain. While the athletes have found success with this method in the past, it takes personal experience to convince them that head injuries should not be treated in the same manner. Since many of the athletes were unaware of their exact medical diagnosis, the severity of their injuries were established by how much their symptoms affected their day-to-day life. Physical symptoms were the most commonly reported, but psychological symptoms had a greater affect on the participants' day-to-day life. Generally, the participants who returned to play had higher levels of self-efficacy and self-awareness than the athletes who were not able to return. However, it is unclear from the study if the athletes had high self-efficacy because they were able to return, or if they were able to return because of their pre-injury characteristics. There was also a general consensus among the participants that more support and awareness about brain injuries were needed in their sport. / Kinesiology

This study explores the design space of motocross within Human-Computer Interaction with focus on warning riders of danger while practicing unsupervised. Using autobiographical design, the aim was to investigate mechanisms and modalities suitable for motocross where the environment, tracks, physical and mental load on the riders were some of the challenges faced. With basis in research within other sports and a domain expert focus group, a prototype was developed and iterated over a period of three months using the author and recruited participants as riders. The process was documented using a diary. The study concluded that using the helmet as mounting point was effective due to not being intrusive for the riders and no track alterations were needed to implement the system for real use. Visual feedback using light mounted under the visor showed to be unreliable due to sun interference, while sound created by vibrations on the top of the helmet shown to be suitable for warning motocross riders. Using visual and auditory modalities together, the light was concluded to be efficient as an information display when attention was brought to the rider by the vibration sound. / Denna studie utforskar designrymden (eng. design space) för motocross inom människa-datorinteraktion med fokus på att varna motocrossförare om faror när träning sker utan tillsyn. Genom att använda en självbiografisk metod var syftet att utforska mekanismer och modaliteter för motocross där den extrema miljön, banorna och den fysiska och mentala påfrestningen på förarna är några av utmaningarna. Med grund i relaterad forskning inom andra sporter och en expertfokusgrupp, utvecklades och utvärderades en prototyp över tre månader där författaren tillsammans med rekryterade deltagare var testförare. Processen dokumenterades med en testdagbok. Att placera prototypen på hjälmens ovansida visades vara effektivt då förare inte uppfattade prototypen som störande och banorna behövde inte förändras för att implementera systemet. Visuella varningar med ljus under hjälmens skärm visades vara opålitligt på grund av solens påverkan, medan ljud skapade genom vibrationer på hjälmens ovansida visades vara effektivt för att varna motocrossförare. Genom att använda den visuella och auditiva modaliteten tillsammans kunde ljus användas som information, då förarens uppmärksamhet påkallades genom vibrationsljudet.

Aim:                Parkour is a relatively new action sport, which is not only popular in non-conflict regions but also in regions where armed conflict is taking place. When being featured in the media, youth from conflict regions frequently report that Parkour has helped them to deal with the consequences of armed conflict. Although Parkour is being used in psychosocial and life skills interventions in European countries, and despite the fact that action sports are used in humanitarian assistance, there is no research on the potential of Parkour as a tool in humanitarian interventions. The aim of this thesis is to analyse how Parkour can be used in humanitarian aid interventions, particularly focusing on its potential for life skills interventions. In order to do so, a mapping of Parkour teams in conflict regions is conducted. What is more, example cases highlight the importance Parkour has for youth in conflict regions. Lastly, a qualitative thematic analysis, will review the cases and academic literature, in order to discuss to what extent these characteristics coincide with the ten life skills as they were outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO). Methods:       Mapping is limited to the timeframe 2013 – 2018 and to countries which display a high amount of organized violence within said timeframe. Furthermore, qualitative thematic analysis in combination with a review of relevant literature is used, in order to understand what Parkour’s potential for life skills interventions could be. Findings:         The mapping indicates that Parkour teams and individuals are active in 16 out of the 22 countries which comply with the mapping criteria. The cases further exemplify that for many practitioners in the conflict regions, Parkour is used as a tool to deal with the consequences of armed conflict.  The qualitative thematic analysis shows that Parkour’s characteristics seem to coincide with the 10 life skills laid out by the WHO. Conclusion:    Action sports are already being used in aid interventions. Parkour’s assets in particular are multiple. It is an accessible, cost-effective and popular sport that youth globally and in conflict regions is attracted to. That, in combination with its characteristics and social media based nature, could be compelling arguments to use Parkour in humanitarian assistance.

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