How risky is it? Perceived risk among Norwegian backcountry riders

Abstract

We use a hypothetical choice scenario to analyzefactors that affect the perceived risk of potentially risky backcountry terrain.Our results show thatfactors, which are expected to affect the objective level of risk (e.g., backcountry travel skills and experience), are correlated with the perceived level of risk. However, we also find suggestive evidence that social factors, which should not affect objective risk, do affect theperceived riskiness of a line. More specifically, our research points to the possibility that irrelevant, but ski related, information on social media affectsperceived risk. Implications and limitations of our research are discussed.