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Eat the View - the Consumption of Extreme Landscape
Extreme landscapes generate strong and yet sometimes conflicting
desires in those wishing to experience them. These conflicts arise
when priorities differ between, for example, the journey versus
the destination; owning the landscape versus honouring it; and
reshaping the landscape to suit our needs and abilities versus
experiencing it on its own terms.
One perspective
supports "the long walk in", a concept directly opposed
to the Chamonix style of access, where infrastructure exists to
get the greatest number of people the furthest possible distance
into the mountains. You can only achieve a complex and deep
understanding of a landscape when you do not take a train to the
summit. And you cannot experience that profound sense of freedom
from society’s restrictions if you can’t follow your own path.
On the other
hand, who is to say that only those with the physical capabilities
and the time to take the long walk in should have the pleasure of
experiencing the joy of being in wild mountain places? Although
the experience is clearly different, is it elitist to think that
only those who get there under their own steam should be there?
There is also a
perception that more people want to "own a piece of the
view", regardless of their relationship to and understanding
of that environment. Real-estate development in extreme landscapes
is hugely profitable. Many of these homes are second homes —
seldom-visited status symbols, poorly designed in relation to the
environment in which they’re located, and, in the end, actually
a kind of blight on the landscape they were originally meant to
enhance.
However, many
tasteful, environmentally and culturally sensitive communities
have been developed in stunningly beautiful landscapes. They are
primarily designed for urbanites seeking a place to retreat,
regroup and be inspired by that very landscape. Like those who don’t
have the time or the capabilities to take the "long walk
in", many of these new mountain dwellers only increase the
groundswell of those who feel protective about wild places.
At an even
broader level, the land managers of extreme landscapes have
multiple constituencies to serve and manage. National parks and
other protected areas must create strategies that deliver access,
protection, risk management, and interpretation to many different
users with varying expectations.
Are our
experiences driven more by the status and self-satisfaction
derived from consumptive measuring points such as numbers and
ticking — peaks; countries; houses in interesting mountain
resorts; vertical feet skied in the heli-skiing world; climbing
grades; routes; or 8000-metre peaks? If this consumption of
landscape continues at its current, accelerated pace, will there
by any landscape left to enjoy?
Representatives from vastly
different points of view debated these questions. Marty von Neudegg is Vice-president of Canadian Mountain Holidays, the
largest heli-skiing operation in the world. Bob Sandford works
closely with Parks Canada to develop tourism strategies that
deliver on short-term and long-term expectations and goals for
responsible land management. Sid Marty is a Canadian author and former park warden
who is particularly skeptical of the strategies that national
parks have adopted in recent years. Eldon Beck is an award-winning
planner of mountain resort communities in Canada, the United
States and Europe. Will Gadd’s recent hang-gliding adventure
across the United States gave him a unique bird’s-eye view of
the kinds of developments taking place in many extreme landscapes.
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