Attitudes toward Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 475

(Bernbaum 2008). In addition, the growing impact of global cultural, political, econom-
ic, and environmental change, and particularly climate change, has focused attention
on the cultural and spiritual importance of mountains and the responses by mountain
communities to those changes (Bernbaum 2010).
As the world becomes increasingly populated and urbanized and the need to escape
the pressures of the city grows, mountains become more and more a focus of attention
(Macfarlane 2003). Mountains are now almost universally viewed as havens of retreat
and symbols of freedom, and mountain tourism is one of the fastest growing industries
in the world (see Chapter 12). Not content with brief visits, many people are taking
advantage of technology and communications to move to and live in remote mountain
communities like Aspen in the Colorado Rockies, participating in a modern phenomenon
that scholars refer to as amenity migration, as discussed in Chapter 10. The city is no
longer viewed as Socrates saw it, as the center of action where everything good hap-
pens, but more and more as the center of evil. This is particularly evident in the return-
to-nature movement that took place among the young during the late 1960s and early
1970s, with its emphasis on casting of the artificiality of modern urbanized life. This
trend, reminiscent of that advocated by Rousseau more than 200 years ago and by Thor-
eau a century later, is an important influence in our times.
Mountains are a favorite refuge for those seeking to commune with nature, whether
they be motor tourists or backpackers (Parker 2008). This influx of tourists has created
unprecedented pressures on mountain landscapes. Permits and other restrictions are
being imposed in many areas, with waiting lists and reservations now required to trek
and camp in some mountain areas. But mountains have never been in such demand
or regarded with such favor in all the history of humankind. They comprise a major
and praiseworthy theme in contemporary art, literature, and music. Mountains are con-
sidered the embodiment of the good, the beautiful, and the sublime.
References
Adams, R. 2010. Archaeology with Attitude: Late Prehistoric Settlement and Subsist-
ence in the Northern Wind River Range, Wyoming. Ph.D. dissertation, University of
Wyoming, Laramie.
Anati, E. 1960. Prehistoric art in the Alps. Scientific American 202: 52-59.
Aung, M. H. 1962. Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism. London: Oxford University
Press.
Bartlett, P. 1993. The Undiscovered Country: The Reason We Climb. Leicester, UK: The
Ernest Press.
Barton, S. 2008. Healthy Living in the Alps: The Origins of Winter Tourism in Switzer-
land, 1860-1914. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
Benedict, J. B., and Olson, B. L. 1973. Origin of the McKean Complex: Evidence from
timberline. Plains Anthropologist 18(62): 323-327.
Benedict, J. B., and Olson, B. L. 1978. The Mount Albion Complex: A Study of Prehistoric
Man and the Altithermal. Research Report 1. Ward, CO: Center for Mountain Archae-
ology.
Bent, A. H. 1913. The Indians and the mountains. Appalachia 13(3): 257-271.