When skiing, there are three fundamental aspects to consider: the use of our own body, the organization of space, and the organization of time. The latter two aspects are closely related.
We organize our perceived space through references provided by objects and the characteristics of the area where we develop our actions.
To evaluate the surrounding space, we rely on references provided by the perception of gravity, ourselves, and the perception of perpendicularity, which is the orientation in which objects are perceived as vertical. We use references to verticality, horizontality, obliquity, and depth to represent the space around us. Due to the slants of the mountain, some skiers perceive space as a frightening void.
If we have adequate spatial perception, we will be skilled at locating and moving in that space, taking different directions, and finding our way around the ski resort.
When we perceive space, we also perceive the possibilities of movement around it. It is our environment, whether it be near or far, that is inherent to our existence, forming our own space and participating in that of others.
Since space is what surrounds us and where we move, we perceive it through visual, kinesthetic, tactile, auditory, and vestibular information. This information allows us to establish relationships with others and with objects in that particular skiing space.
Space, in addition to being perceived, can also be experienced. The lived space is established through our motions and our own subjectivity, which is our knowledge of spatiality together with the emotional charge and symbolism that ‘experiencing’ the mountain space implies.
It is our dynamic spatial reality through which we obtain meaning from the places we move through, assimilating spatial information, recognizing and valuing previously frequented places. In short, the lived space is our experience of the geographic space of the mountain.
