Valdres and the Significance of an Online/Offline Outdoor Lifestyle

Valdres is a highland valley in southeastern Norway with around 17,500 permanent residents covering an area of 5,406 square kilometres. Valdres is also where I grew up and lived until I finished secondary school in 2003 and moved to Oslo to study. After training as an anthropologist and conducting research in the South Pacific for a decade, I returned to Valdres in the winter of 2020 for family reasons, to escape the COVID-19 pandemic's constraints on city living, and to conduct research as part of the project Private Lives: Embedding Sociality at Digital Kitchen-Tables.¹ The ethnographic material for this article is drawn from eight months of focused fieldwork in Valdres as part of this project, conducted between 2020 and 2021. Given that my residence in Valdres extended from March 2020 until April 2023, the total duration of fieldwork amounts to 37 months, encompassing time spent with interlocutors also outside of designated fieldwork periods. The main research method has been participant observation across various social settings, including outdoor sports and social media, complemented by informal interviews. My participants were recruited from existing contacts in Valdres as well as people I met during fieldwork. They are aged between eighteen and forty-five, identify as male and female, are solely of ethnic Nordic descent, and predominantly, though not exclusively, from a middle-class background. The main social media I focus on is Strava, a popular smartphone application where users track and log their activities, including running, cycling, and skiing, via GPS, and take part in the ‘Strava community’.

The value of outdoor physical activity has deep cultural roots in Valdres and in Norway more generally (see e.g., Ween and Abram 2012). Like many other places across Europe, hiking and mountain trekking emerged as popular activities as part of the National Romantic movements in the mid-1800s. During this time, mountains and the wild appeared for urban people to be the authentic, real, clean, and free, in contrast to distressed city life and cultivated nature. Romantic ideas of solitary mastery of wild nature was considered character-building, and the aestheticisation and spiritualisation of mountaineering imbued it with significant potential for social distinction (Telford and Beames 2015: 487). Coinciding with the introduction of leisure time for most in the early 1900s, hiking in the mountains went from being part of bourgeoise education and manners to a practice among all layers of the population (Ween and Abram 2012). There was an emphasis on the connection between nature activities and health, and the concept friluftsliv, first used in written form by Henrik Ibsen in the poem Paa Vidderne in 1859, was increasingly used to describe a healthy outdoor lifestyle associated with Norwegian-ness. Friluftsliv is an important part of many Valdres people's lives, and the near unlimited possibilities for leisure activities in beautiful nature have for decades attracted a number tourists and cottagers, as well as some new permanent residents, which reinforces the notion that friluftsliv is among Valdres's main virtues (see Bratrud 2024a).

As scholars of digital social life have argued, different cultural contexts have their distinct digital culture that reflects the offline culture (Miller et al. 2016). This is relevant for understanding the popularity of apps like Strava in Valdres, which gives the popular sports and competition aspect of friluftsliv a new dimension. Strava is a US digital platform for multisport tracking introduced in 2009 and is currently the outdoor activity sharing platform with the largest usership globally, with over 100 million users in 195 countries (Strava 2022). Users become members of the Strava community through a free account or paid subscription plan that enables one to record and upload workouts through GPS tracking, add friends, and like one another's activities by giving so-called kudos. The platform has a smartphone app that can be synchronised with one's smart watch, sport watch, or bike computer, and one can include photos and comment on uploaded activities.

Most members use Strava as a training diary and tool to analyse their progress and performance, and many use it for inspiration, comparison and connection with like-minded others (see also Salazar 2022). In addition, the more competitive users may use it to compete for the best time on segments of trails, which immediately leads to the title King of the Mountain or its acronym KOM. This feature takes place through Strava's software that places users’ performance on virtual result boards that make the hierarchical aspect of Strava explicit. A more implicit hierarchical aspect is how users evaluate one another on the basis of their ability to find new and interesting terrain. This reflects dedication, environmental knowledge and skill, for instance in knowing where to find soft powder snow for ski touring when conditions are generally hard and icy.

In the following section, we will meet Johanna and Per, a couple in their early thirties who in their Valdres network are admired for being particularly sprek (fit and perseverant) and knowledgeable about the outdoors. They rarely show off their abilities in face-to-face interaction with people, but post their performances unreservedly on Strava almost every day. As we will see, their social circles take note of these updates, are impressed by them, and talk about them to others, which in turn influences Johanna and Per's social standing beyond the digital realm of Strava.

Johanna and Per: Reluctant Kings of the Mountain

Johanna and Per are both teachers with a social life centred around outdoor activities like mountaineering, ski touring, cross country skiing, running. and mountain biking. Outside of sports, Johanna occasionally joins female friends and colleagues for baking and needlework sessions, while Per enjoys watching football or occasional bike races on TV with his male friends. They also participate in dinners, movie outings and game nights with friends. I was first introduced to Johanna and Per at a party hosted by mutual friends in January 2021. From that evening onwards, we became part of the same social circle and learned to know each other through outdoor activities, chiefly ski touring and mountain biking, as well as other social activities.

Initially, I considered Johanna and Per typical outdoor enthusiasts in Valdres: they were versatile, kept pace with the rest, and engaged in casual conversations about daily matters. Yet, I increasingly heard others commend their exceptional fitness and perseverance – that they were skikkelig spreke (really fit and perseverant) – an impression largely formed by viewing their frequent and robust Strava updates of challenging runs, ski tours, and cycling trips. My own perception, however, shaped by face-to-face interactions only, had judged their abilities and fitness as relatively standard. This changed after I began following their Strava activities, after a congenial hike and chat with Johanna on a warm August evening.

During the hike, which included Johanna, me, and a mutual Valdres friend I call Charlotte, Johanna told us about a recent occurrence involving Per at a local sports shop. Per had placed an order and identified himself with his full name, Per Eriksen, to the shop assistant, Lars – a young mountain bike devotee aged eighteen. Realisation struck Lars with an astonished, ‘What, is that you?!’ Although their paths had crossed a few times within the store, Lars had been unaware of Per's identity. Stunned, he now learned that the unassuming man he was conversing with was none other than ‘Per Eriksen’, the elusive mountain biker renowned for setting unmatched times on the nearby trails. This was a figure Lars and his companions had been striving to surpass, in vain, for the King of the Mountain positions, always held by the notorious ‘Per Eriksen’. To them, ‘Per Eriksen’, known solely by that name, statistics leader with a profile image featuring a helmet and big goggles against the backdrop of a mountain, was akin to a local legend shrouded in mystery.

This event was indicative of something that had caught my attention during fieldwork, but that I had yet to grasp properly, namely how the same person can appear so humble on behalf of their own person in face-to-face interaction but be very unreserved and boastful in their social media posts. It was reminiscent of Goffman's impression management, where persons consciously or unconsciously act to influence how others see them (1959). It was also indicative of what Karen Waltorp (2020), building on Marilyn Strathern and Pierre Bourdieu, calls ‘composite habitus,’ where the person is playing out one form of person with certain norms and habits in one context and another in others. It could also relate to the ‘channel switching’ between identities that Tom Boellstorf (2021: 51) argues becomes easier with digital technologies. Moreover, I could see that this pattern had social implications, as the perceptions people got from social media posts were carried over to their offline interactions – influencing self-perception, hierarchical dynamics, and a sense of belonging in their day-to-day life (see also Bratrud 2024b).

Having come to know Johanna solely through our offline interactions, I was surprised to learn about her remarkable times on this trail that was renowned among the particularly fit mountain runners visiting the region. Realising that I could be overlooking crucial aspects of the outdoor enthusiasts I thought I knew, I downloaded Strava onto my phone and set up a profile enabling me to follow Johanna, Per, and other outdoors people. By browsing their profiles and later discussing their Strava activities with them, I came to understand that the relatively ‘standard’ performance they exhibited during trips with myself and others was predominantly a social adjustment granted to those of us who did not quite match their calibre.

Navigating Roles and Selves across the Online and Offline

After having known Johanna and Per for about a year and being intrigued by what I experienced as a discrepancy between their reserved appearance offline and rather unrestrained conveying of performances on Strava, I invited them for dinner and an informal interview. Over the meal, I playfully remarked that if one were to verbalise their Strava posts in offline day-to-day scenarios, it might sound as though they were shouting in the street: ‘Hey, did you catch the time on my run and bike ride today?’ Johanna and Per chuckled. I asked if they would make such declarations offline and face-to-face. Per responded with a gaze of shock, vigorously shaking his head and emphatically replying: ‘No, no, no, no’.

Tom: Why wouldn't you say it offline?

Per: No . . . we are mediocre bikers. I think Johanna holds a high level in running and uphill biking but other than that we are on a mediocre level. But that's from our perspective. On social media it's allowed [to talk about one's achievements] but . . . 

Johanna: On Strava it's totally fine. That's an environment where it's fine.

Per: Because it's an environment used precisely for that. Posting on Strava is fine because that's its purpose. People who are there are doing the same thing. That's what it's for.

Johanna: And when we meet people who are on Strava we can talk about it and say: ‘Hey, I saw you had a good run today!’

Per: But you need a proper workout before it's acceptable to post. It goes back to . . . if you're not on Strava, then you're not . . . it's not fair to say but . . . then you're not good enough. Or . . . you don't have an interest in it.

For Per, but also Johanna, Strava is a platform that enables them to show their abilities to the world. Particularly for Per, who explicitly seeks recognition but balks at the idea of overt self-promotion, the platform offers a discrete channel for disseminating details of his pursuits, transitioning what was originally private into the public realm. This is understood to be made in a culturally acceptable fashion, as the information is conveyed exclusively through Strava, a space explicitly intended for showcasing skill and accomplishment. Per is therefore carefully curating his presence, exercising active context control where boundaries between social domains with different values and norms are wielded to achieve a desired outcome.

While both Johanna and Per rarely post on Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook, which they think of as bragging as the platforms are for a broader audience of contacts, they are posting their merits almost daily on Strava to an audience that holds a shared interest in outdoor sports. They are thus strategically concealing and displaying information with particular audiences in mind, in line with Goffman's ideas of impression management.

Additionally, Johanna and Per demonstrate an awareness of the social dynamics distinct to various platforms. They judiciously navigate the interface between different digital arenas, discerning the nuances of what is acceptable to share and where. I suggest that this active negotiation of social boundaries is more than mere self-curation; it is an exercise in context control that considers the potential implications of moving between different online and offline spaces.

In the forthcoming section, we will see how Johanna and Per navigate between their online presence and offline interactions in a way that enable them to comply with the expected and valued social forms of different social spheres. More than just a portrayal of their character, this adaptability helps them nurture a sense of belonging across the different social groups to which they relate.

Sameness as a Value-Mastering Distinction

Gullestad (1989: 101) argues that when speaking of hierarchy, status, bragging, and showing off in the Nordic context, it often denotes ideas of rising egoism and materialism at the expense of collective moral responsibility. She argues that there is a tension in Norwegian culture between equality (likhet) on one side and individualism defined as being outstanding (fremstående) and unique (enestående) on the other. While John Barnes (1978) has shown how Norwegians are willing to accept a degree of hierarchy based on professional skill, the private sphere is characterised by equality and a desire to ‘fit in with’ (passe sammen med) their community. Gullestad relates the desire to ‘fit in with’ to the wish of having one's self-perception and self-worth confirmed by others. Such confirmation requires relevant endorsers who are willing to, or able to, play down differences and confirm an identity experienced as equivalent to the other's (Gullestad 1989: 116–117).

Maria's latter example is similar to Tuva Beyer Broch's description of brown-skinned youth cross country skiing in the forests of Oslo and white-skinned skiers looking, smiling, and sending encouraging comments in their direction. Broch notes that while such interactions are meant to be encouraging, they inadvertently reinforce a social hierarchy that delineates who belongs in the natural landscape and who does not, casting the former as ‘hosts’ and the latter as ‘guests’ (Broch 2022: 275).

In stark contrast to this underlying exclusion and establishment of hierarchy, Johanna's behaviour towards Maria exemplifies inclusivity. Despite the disparity in their skill levels and experience, Johanna helped Maria feel accepted in both the physical terrain and the social landscape they shared. This situation echoes the typical ‘resolution’ to the value conflict many ‘successful’ persons experience in the Norwegian context, according to Gullestad; by deemphasising one's own distinction and including those who feel less successful, both parties can continue to experience themselves as included and part of the same companionship, in spite of their differences (Gullestad 1992: 103). Based on Maria's evaluations, we may say that Johanna succeeded in making Maria feel equal to her, with the result being that Maria admired Johanna even more than if she was only good at the outdoor activity. Johanna can thus be said to comply with what Maja Hojer Bruun, Gry Jakobsen, and Stine Krøijer (2011: 2) call ‘value-mastering hierarchies’, which they argue conditions Nordic sociality. Here, the extent to which a person masters established social values, like equality, introduces new hierarchies based on the person's ability to master this value.

However, as Gullestad explains, the Norwegian egalitarian ethos can make the prominent person experience a dilemma. Even though one wishes to maintain one's belonging to an existent social group, one may also want to reach one's potential and connect with people who are of a higher social standing. In the next section, I will suggest how Strava and strategies of context control may help mitigate this dilemma for people like Johanna and Per, who seek belonging to different social groups with conflicting expectations.

Social Media–Enabled Context Control

Johanna is particularly careful to include others, as we saw in her attuning to Maria during the mountain bike trip. She is also inviting female friends to other activities, like knitting nights. During my fieldwork, she even started a low-threshold female running group, where she invited friends, colleagues, and friends of friends who were interested in ‘working out a bit’ (trimme litt) a couple of times a week. The group was popular even though some participants found the high level of Johanna challenging. When Johanna and Per got pregnant during my fieldwork, Johanna was worried about how she, five months into pregnancy was still, by far, the fastest runner in the group. ‘It has actually been very hard’, she told me when I met her and Per one day and asked how the running group was going: ‘It's something about the social. One of the participants has problems joining when I still beat her with several minutes in spite of being pregnant. What does that make her think? I worry about that. But it's not really my fault either, is it?’ Responding to Johanna's concern, Per said: ‘That's perhaps a problem with rural areas. There's so few people. In the city you can find someone on your own level. You won't do that here. You must accept those who are here.’ Asking if it implied adjusting to other people, Per replied ‘yes, no doubt about it. There's a lot of adjustments. In my case, I have stopped inviting people to [training] trips now to avoid having to adjust to others all the time.’

Erik Henningsen (2001) argues that sports, as a cultural medium displaying skill and competition, is an epitome of the celebration of the extraordinary individual. This is a deep contradiction to values of equality that characterise many social domains in Norway and leads Norwegian athletes to have a self-image alternating between the self-heroic and the self-effacing (Henningsen 2001: 111). Johanna and Per experience a similar conflict. They want to perform on a high level, be recognised for it, and connect with like-minded in that domain, but they also value equality and want to maintain their relationships with people with different interests, including most of their kin. From one perspective, these values and desires seem contradicting and incompatible. However, the way they use Strava helps keep these contexts apart in some moments, merged in others, thus making it a strategically useful relational device.

Several scholars of digital sociality have examined the idea of social media bringing about ‘context collapse’ – that is, how people, information, norms, and values from different settings converge into one context (boyd 2008; Davis and Jurgenson 2014; Loh and Walsh 2021; Marwick and boyd 2011). This is because people who were previously separated in offline social life are now brought together in the same online social arenas, with a consequence being the blurring of the public and private, the professional and personal, and the many different selves that people present to different audiences and in different contexts (Davis and Jurgenson 2014: 476). If this is true, digital technology may indeed complicate ‘our metaphors of space and place, including the belief that audiences are separate from each other’ (Marwick and boyd 2011: 115). However, noting how people increasingly stop broadcasting intimate details about themselves on public social media and instead use more selective networks that offer more audience control, like private groups on Instagram, Messenger and Snapchat, writer Nicholas Carr (2016) coined the term ‘context restoration’. In this, he points to how social media users trying to avoid context collapse are re-establishing boundaries in their digital interactions, which resemble more closely the intimacy of their offline social life.

In this way, we may relate Johanna and Per's experiences of Strava to Daniel Miller and his colleagues’ point that digital globalisation does not only spread individualism and foster decline in traditional social relations and values, which was often a view fashioned by early digital anthropologists. It can also be used to retain and bolster, shape and reshape, social connections and intimacy across localised boundaries to an extent that was unimaginable in the pre-digital age (Miller et al. 2016: 49).

Conclusion

This article has discussed how conveying individual achievement on the social media platform Strava, in combination with practising egalitarian values in face-to-face interaction, can lead to both individual distinction and belonging across established social boundaries. As we have seen, equality is an important social value in Valdres, which makes it difficult to claim prestige and recognition in everyday life. In this context, Strava becomes an important device for people like Johanna and Per, who seek recognition and relationships across everyday egalitarian principles. Through what I call ‘context control’, they restrict their conveying of individual achievement to Strava, where this form of communication is expected. However, as people follow Johanna and Per on Strava and talk about their achievements outside of it, this ‘private’ information becomes ‘public’, without them being seen as illegitimately boasting about it. At the same time, Johanna and Per demonstrate a commitment to egalitarian values in their face-to-face interaction, which reduces the risk of having the ‘wrong face’ for the situation, as Goffman calls it. Although it comes with its ambiguities, as we have seen, I argue that this tactful context control enables Johanna and Per to experience affirmation of self, social distinction, and belonging in a different way than would be possible without the technology. Grasping this relationship between face-to-face and online interaction, I advocate for the usefulness of Wagner's figure-ground-reversal, as it insists on a continuous change of perspective that allows us to see clearer how technology and the sociocultural come into being at particular moments in the digital social assemblage.