Dimensions of Snowsports Education: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Snowsports education is crucial to the sustainability of the snowsports industry as it connects the participants to the sport through formal instruction. Investing in the development of snowsports education professionals that have the skills and knowledge can contribute to creating lifelong participants. The purpose of this study is to understand what is known about snowsports education in an effort to guide future research towards a more thorough theoretical, practical, and interdisciplinary understanding. Through a scoping review, this paper summarizes the current body of knowledge and identifies gaps in extant literature. Primary findings suggest snowsports education programs and instructors have significant impacts on a participant’s attitude toward snowsports and toward their skill acquisition. A notable gap is that while researchers have suggested instructor-participant interactions are valuable to the snowsports education experience, few studies have explicitly explored such interaction. Guided by the current knowledge and existing gaps, potential research opportunities are discussed.