Indoorising the outdoors (2012)

A snowboarder needs a snowy hill, a skydiver needs wind and a climber needs a rock. As simple as that. However, since the early nineties, the natural elements are being replaced by artificial sport environments. In settings such as snow domes, climbing halls and white water courses, these so-called lifestyle sports are transformed into accessible, safe and efficient activities for a wide range of consumers. With this development, lifestyle sports have become collective postmodern consumption goods. In this book, this process of ’the indoorisation of outdoor sports’ is described. The book provides an explorative study concerning the emergence and development of the artificial environments for lifestyle sports. It questions the way lifestyle sports are transformed into commercial, commodified activities in artificial settings, and to which extent these activities are still related to lifestyle sports. By focusing on sport consumers as well as sport producers, this interdisciplinary study contributes to our understanding of consumption in contemporary sport business.