Nature/person transactions during an outdoor adventure experience: A multi-phasic analysis

Few studies have addressed the changing nature of adventure recreation experience as it unfolds during the activity. This study explores a black-water rafting trip through a cave by examining person/nature transactions at selected points in the journey and by analyzing participants' post-trip written accounts about the experience. Key variables used to define the person-nature transaction included focus of attention, mood states, and perceptions of risk and competence. Study results indicated that each of these variables varied with environmental context. However, broad patterns of variation in these same variables were also evident across time and phase of the experience. In their personal accounts, participants in this extraordinary nature experience expressed many of the values that western cultures have attributed to natural places.