Weather and the senses in high altitude mountaineering - a sociological study

What is it about?

In this article we explore the ‘weathering’ body in the physical culture of high-altitude mountaineering, such as the Himalayas. Here we examine in-depth the lived experience of weather, and more specifically ‘weather work’ and ‘weather learning’, in one of the most extreme and challenging environments on earth: high-altitude mountains. Drawing on a theoretical framework of phenomenological sociology, and an interview-based research project with 19 international, high-altitude mountaineers, we investigate weather as lived and experienced both corporeally and cognitively. We are particularly interested in conceptualising and theorising the ways in which embodied beings relate to the environment through different aspects of their being. The novel concepts of ‘weather work’ and ‘weather learning’, we argue, provide salient examples of the mind-body-world nexus at work, as an embodied practice and mode of thinking, strongly contoured by the physical culture of high-altitude mountaineering.

Featured Image

Photo by Nathan Langer on Unsplash

Photo by Nathan Langer on Unsplash

Why is it important?

There has been relatively very little sociological research into the physical culture of high altitude mountaineering, and similarly there is a lack of such research on the lived experience of weather. Combining these two under-explored areas provides us with a novel investigation into the ways in which the body, mind and environment interact and interplay in the exciting and challenging domain of high altitude mountaineering and climbing.

Perspectives