It’s cold again and skiers and riders can watch our breath as we exhale a collective sigh of relief – major ski resorts are finally jumping on the green train.
Alpine Meadows, Mt. Rose, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Squaw Valley USA and Sugar Bowl are using clean energy, controlling erosion and taking other steps to protect the health of the mountains, lakes and rivers that draw skiers and riders to their slopes. Many are powering their lifts and lights by purchasing renewable energy credits like ‘Green Tags’ from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (see sidebar below for how Green Tags work). Some argue that resorts are making and promoting their environmental efforts as a PR ploy, jumping on the bandwagon for public approval. But issues like water quality and global warming are real problems that are finally catching the attention of the masses – even the President recently acknowledge the existence of global warming – and proactive efforts make a difference, regardless of the motivation.
‘It’s a win-win. It’s better for the environment, it’s better for our guest because they feel good, and it’s better for our company because we’re improving our relationship with our guests,’ says Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts.
The Ski Area Citizen’s Coalition, based in Durango, Colorado, holds ski resorts accountable for their environmental impact. Each year, the organization publishes a Ski Area Environmental Scorecard that grades 77 ski resorts in the western United States on nine criteria, from preserving undisturbed lands to conserving water. Each criterion has a number of points allotted to it to assign weight, with a total of 214 possible points. A letter grade, from A to F is assigned to each resort based on its score.
Last year, 22 percent of ski areas were supporting carpool programs, 21 percent were using alternative fuels like biodiesel, 31 percent were using wind or solar power, 50 percent were supporting legislation to combat climate change and 60 percent were supporting mass transit programs.
This year, California’s Alpine Meadows was the only North Shore resort to get an ‘A.’ Mt. Rose got a ‘C’, Northstar a ‘D’, Squaw a ‘B’ and Sugar Bowl a ‘C.’
‘People read the scorecards and ask why our score isn’t higher’ says Sugar Bowl Marketing Manager, Kris York. ‘Alpine has the highest score because they haven’t built any new structures and we get penalized for building. Because of the way the scores are weighted, we hardly get any credit for using 100 percent clean energy.’
The Ski Area Citizen’s Coalition and Sierra Nevada Alliance recently defended the weighting of its scores and challenged the growing green energy trend, stating that, on average, resorts using 100 percent green energy do 16 percent worse at protecting the local environment, compared to those that use no green energy.’ According to their report, resorts that purchase green power are ‘more likely to harm rivers, streams and wetlands, destroy old growth forests and threaten wildlife.’ The organizations feel that ski resorts need to think locally as well as globally. ‘Ski resorts taking the plunge on renewable energy seem to be those with the most aggressive and environmentally damaging development practices.’
Though many of Tahoe’s major ski areas have a long way to go to truly protect the local and global environment, all of them are acknowledging the problem and all have green programs in place. ‘Most in the industry are walking the talk. We’re always challenged by consumer watch groups,’ says York.
Alpine Meadows is using biodiesel fuel, revegetating with native plants and running recycling programs. It purchases 100 percent wind power for its operations, equivalent to not driving a car 1,822,061 miles or three and a half round-trip tickets to the moon.
New this season, Alpine Meadows will raise money for the Truckee Donner Land Trust and the Truckee Trails Foundation. With each lift ticket purchase, guests may donate $1 to assist the local Open Space & Trails campaign. The resort will also sell two forms of ‘Green Tag’ bumper stickers, with proceeds going to support wind and solar power.
Mt. Rose powers its two main lifts with clean energy credits and its recycling and waste reduction programs have kept 15.8 cubic yards – that’s a 50-foot wide by 50-foot tall by 50-foot deep box – of solid waste out of landfills. On its slopes, Mt. Rose follows Best Management Practices (BMPs) like maintaining erosion ditches, laying matting and revegetating disturbed areas to improve water quality. The mountain’s daily Reno shuttle program was implemented in 1995 and has prevented 64,000 vehicle miles since inception. In partnership with the Forest Service, Mt. Rose offers free ‘ski-ecology’ programs for children and adults to increase awareness.
Northstar-at-Tahoe is focusing on mitigating environmental damage as it builds its new village. The resort created the Northstar Sustainability Program which uses a green building rating system established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Northstar recycled more than 305 tons when it deconstructed the old village. It used the wood ceiling from the Clock Tower’s Chaparral Room to build a new back deck for the Big Springs Day Lodge. It salvaged sidewalk pavers and donated them to downtown Truckee and Truckee Elementary School. It also resold big timbers to residents and architects, mulched broken or splintered wood for mountain revegetation and relocated plants.
On-mountain, Northstar uses natural terrain features to minimize grading and logging. It uses pine needles from the resort along with native vegetation, fertilized with manure from local stables, for erosion control.
Northstar partners with Alternetrides.com, a web-based carpooling service, to pair up travelers for ridesharing, operates shuttles and offers incentives for employees who carpool. The resort also sells biodiesel – a cleaner burning fuel made from renewable domestic resources like vegetable oil that can be used in diesel engines – to the public and uses it in most of its shuttles and snow removal equipment. The resort buys wind energy credits and offers customers a chance to purchase a full or Mini-Green Tag with their lift ticket in order to help offset the vehicle emissions associated with their drive.
Last summer, Squaw Valley USA built rock-lined ditches, sediment basins and ponds to trap sediment from runoff water before it enters Squaw Creek. An environmental improvement team planted hundreds of shrubs and applied seed, organic fertilizer, wood chips and straw to slopes. Squaw also continued its native seed collection program, taking seeds from the slopes and added them to the revegetation mix. These efforts are designed to improve water quality in Squaw Creek and reduce flooding. Squaw also sponsors education programs like Sustainable Slopes Outreach and Earth Day.
Sugar Bowl encourages visitors and employees carpooling and sponsors shuttle services, employee clean-up programs and resort-wide recycling.
Last season, Sugar Bowl became the first California resort to use 100 percent green energy, in the form of Green-e Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Sugar Bowl uses 4,272 mega watt hours of electricity, which displaces approximately 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide. The savings is equivalent to taking 340 cars off of the road for a year or planting 265,000 trees.
‘It cost us more money,’ says York, ‘But it’s a commitment to the environment that our ownership believes in. California is particularly affected by global warming.’
How Green Tags Work
One Green Tag is created for every unit of renewable energy generated. Businesses or individuals can purchase Green Tags equal to the amount of fossil fuel energy they use. Purchasing the Green Tag ‘offsets’ the warming and polluting effects of fossil fuel energy.
For information on Bonneville Environment Foundation’s Green Tag program, see b-e-f.org/GreenTags/.
North Shore Green Programs
Alpine Meadows:skialpine.com/winter/mountain/oneplanet
Mt Rose: skirose.com/on_the_mountain/sustainable_slopes.php
Northstar-at-Tahoe: northstarattahoe.com/info/ski/media/environment.asp
Squaw Valley: squaw.com/summer/html/environmental.html
Sugar Bowl: sugarbowl.com/tahoe/SITE/top/listing.cfm/other/6653/direct?c=1
Review the Ski Area Environmental Report Card: skiareacitizens.com
Buy renewable credits from 3 Phases Energy: 3phases.com
