The book represents first international collection and research in the field of nature sport. It is a resource for students and academics interested in alternative sports and subcultures, sport philosophy, sport and social issues.

Ricardo Melo is Professor and Researcher specializing in nature sports and sport tourism, and their contributions to local sustainable development in the environmental, economic, and sociocultural dimensions. Currently, he is also interested in learning communities, ecopedagogy, and the connection between leisure and education, especially education that takes place in nature.

Derek Van Rheenen is a Critical Studies Scholar who uses sport to interrogate historical patterns of alienation, discrimination and inequity in schools and broader society. Adopting a critical pedagogy, his scholarship envisions sport as a potential platform for social and environmental justice. Much of his work focuses on the ways in which the intersection of nature sports and sustainability may foster a more just and healthy planet for future generations.

Sean Gammon has been writing and researching in sport tourism for over twenty years - focussing on the experience(s) of the sport tourist and exploring the breadth and significance of sports heritage in generating tourism. He also continues to contribute to the field of leisure studies, where he is currently researching the health-giving properties of leisure states of mind.

Preface Part I-Nature Sports: Concepts and Scope 1. Nature sports: a unifying concept 2. Nature sports: ontology, embodied being, politics 3. Keeping it natural? challenging indoorization in Italian rock climbing 4. Nature sports: state of the art of research 5. Conceptualizing adventurous nature sport: A positive psychology perspective 6. Nature sports, health and ageing: the value of euphoria 7. Understanding nature sports: a participant centred perspective and its implications for the design and facilitating of learning and performance Part II-Nature Sports: Development, Impacts and Issues 8. Nature sports: current trends and the path ahead 9. Climbing in Saxon Switzerland (GDR) - a path to freedom in a socialist dictatorship 10. Managing the rock-climbing economy: a case from Chattanooga 11. Riding waves of intra-seasonal demand in surf tourism: analysing the nexus of seasonality and 21st century surf forecasting technology 12. Beyond transgression: mountain biking, young people and managing green spaces 13. 'I don't want to die. That's not why I do it at all': multifaceted motivation, psychological health, and personal development in BASE jumping 14. Running away from the taskscape: ultramarathon as 'dark ecology'