In this presentation, Emmanuelle will draw on her research with Master runners to understand the important role that bodily sensations can play in the decision to go into the mountains in all weather. She will show how age becomes an asset and a resource: indeed over time we develop an intimate knowledge of one’s body and its functioning, we acquire greater experience of the risks involved in mountaineering, we attain a deep knowledge of the terrain and conditions and more importantly we can connect with the world around us in different and rich ways. Thus the presentation will propose that attaining health benefits need not be the primary goal of being physically active but only one of the prerequisites for maintaining physical competence. There are other positive outcomes which matter just as much. The presentation will finish with a reflection on what might stop older women in particular from venturing in the mountains and the outdoors more generally.
http://www.slideshare.net/PhoenixCass/et-esrc-presentation130415