Trans-rational and non-conscious aspects in visual representations of the experience of winter adventure tourism

Abstract

Adventure tourism research has been a rapidly growing field of tourism studies in recent years. Winter adventure tourism has received less attention in research, with even less focus on its activities such as snowshoeing and winter camping. The experience of being in this environment, from the perspective of a phenomenological approach, goes beyond the scope of rational description and enters the realm of metaphors and symbols. Therefore, in this study, we rely on the possibilities of visual methodology, specifically the drawings of participants in a two-week snowshoe trek in the mountain environment of Siberia. Supported by the concept of metaphorical truthfulness, we present seven selected drawings with the authors’ descriptions of the images and supplement the interpretations with the symbolic meanings of the main motifs depicted. The results thus provide suggestions for the methodological enrichment of tourism research and its thematic motifs (people, mountains, fire, road, trees, etc.) with their symbolic, spiritual, and mythological dimensions (vertical, centre, purification, growth, overcoming difficulties, perfection, love, etc.).