The Oregon Skier

Came across this advertisement in my favorite food magazine this month. It's a part of a series of ads that have been running for quite some time now. It's sponsored by Traveloregon.com. Since it's a food magazine the other ads have featured Oregon winemakers, cheesemakers, farmers, and other food-oriented professionals. The skier caught me a little off guard. Then I saw the boots and started making my own connections.

Though it's not stated in the text I like the idea of linking the ancient traditions together. In this case the customs and practices that define a particular group of people. Whether it's winemaking, cheesemaking, or skiing--and more specifically and importantly Telemark skiing--the daily activities and expressions that Oregonians (we're told) engage themselves in act, in effect, to define them. In folkloric terms, this is called a worldview: "the manner in which a culture sees and expresses its relation to the world around it" (Barre Toelken).

Now, perhaps I'm reading way too much into a fairly simple series of advertisements but since the ads have tapped into pretty much everything that I hold near and dear to my heart (save for the always terrific Portland music scene), I'm sold!

My only criticism with the series is that it's fairly northwestern Oregon-centric and I'm more partial to the wide-open spaces, sagebrush, and Ponderosa pine of the eastern side. At any rate, well done Oregon!