Mountains bear the imprint of human activity. Scars from logging and surface mining sit
alongside national parks and ski lodges. Although the environmental effects of extractive
industries are well known, skiing is more likely to bring to mind images of luxury, wealth, and
health. In Making Meaning out of Mountains, Mark Stoddart draws on interviews, field
observations, and media analysis to reveal the multiple, often conflicting meanings attached
to skiing in British Columbia. Corporate leaders promote the industry as sustainable …

358 AutumN 2013 Western Historical Quarterly do something prematurely and precipitously
(à la Dr. Strangelove) while being ready to launch a counterattack if need be. It was a tall
order theoretically, to be sure, but the quotidian reality meant that it was dreadfully dull work
in “something like a submarine under the soil, only one that would never surface”(p. 111).
Heefner's description of the deactivation of the missile sites following the end of the Cold
War is equally strange and compelling, involving environmental impact statements …