MARCCHER

Research Topic:

In a world of accelerating social change, mid-mountain hiking is widely embraced as an escape that allows people to disconnect from daily life and reconnect with nature. However, hikers are relying on increasingly sophisticated equipment and technology. This research aims to explore the paradox between a hiker’s quest for a disconnection experience and the technical infrastructure that tends to make the mountains more accessible to hikers, in order to better understand the role of equipment in shaping the hiker’s experience of disconnection.

Research questions:

• How does a hiker decide what gear to pack?
• What are the practices related to equipment (before, during, and after the hike)?
• How does the process of incorporating the material unfold as the experience progresses?
• What stories and myths do hikers project onto their gear?
• What role does equipment play in achieving a state of resonance?
• How does technology (or lack thereof) affect our ability to disconnect from instrumental values and connect with nature?

The methodology will consist of a multisite ethnographic and videographic study conducted through participant observation of mid-mountain hikers in the French Alps.