Control Over Self and Space in Rockclimbing

“He Didn't Go in Doing a Skydive”: Sustaining the Illusion of Control in an Edgework Activity

“…Like other studies of hazardous activities (e.g., Albert 1999;Celsi et al, 1993;Doka et al, 1990;Kiewa 2001;Lois 2005;Lupton and Tulloch 2002;Lyng 1990;Natalier 2001), this article points toward the centrality of control in risk-sport participants' constructions of the hazards to which they subject themselves through their involvement in their chosen activity. In the case of skydiving, jumpers draw on socially and experientially constructed knowledge to frame the hazards of skydiving as within their control, and they reinforce this notion through an approach to the sport in which they identify the hazards they are able to negotiate and then make choices to manage them.…”

The Experience of Risk in High-Altitude Climbing

“…In fact, climbers may actively seek out risky situations, but this is not because they enjoy the resultant feelings of fear; rather they seem to work very hard to control this fear (Slanger & Rudestam, 1997). What they seem to enjoy is the sense of exhilaration that follows the application of personal control within an out-of-control situation (Kiewa, 2001 ).…”

“…When we anolyse the social and cultural changes in contemporary life we can verify that leisure is generally understood as essential and as a means of personal enhancement and self-development. So when climbers practise their activity they are able to provide themselves with a coherent sense of self in which resides the real importance of leisure (Kiewa, 2001 ). Nowadays, climbing might be understood as an attempt to achieve relative freedom from the external compulsive forces of one's culture and physical environment (Kiewa, 2002).…”

Percursos alternativos — o Parkour enquanto fenómeno (sub)cultural

“…Contrariamente à escalada desportiva, na tradicional não se procura progredir facilmente, mas sim da forma correcta e, consequentemente, mais disciplinada e que requer mais conhecimentos, afastando o público ocasional. Para além da fuga ao quotidiano, Kiewa (13) , num outro estudo, verificou que a base ideológica da escalada assenta também na busca pelo controlo. Com efeito, estas actividades requerem decisões de vida ou morte em situações de perigo que quando ultrapassadas com sucesso, geram uma sensação de controlo que dá confiança ao escalador, sendo um dos grandes factores motivadores desta prática.…”