NSAA Names Recipients Of Sustainable Slopes Grants

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12 May 2011

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SAM Magazine-Lakewood, Colo., May 12, 2011-Six resorts have been granted funds from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Sustainable Slopes program. The ski areas, Arapahoe Basin, Colo.; Beaver Valley Ski Club, Ontario; Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore.; Oak Mountain, N.Y.; Stevens Pass Resort, Wash.; and Stratton Mountain Resort, Vt. The resorts will share in the more than $55,000 on tap as part of the grant program.

Of the six grants awarded, four are cash grants for innovative sustainability projects, made possible by donations from program sponsors CLIF Bar & Co., a California-based energy bar maker, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"These grants are a great vehicle for not only implementing new green projects at U.S. ski areas, but also for sharing best practices as they relate to environmental programs both within and outside our industry," said NSAA President Michael Berry.

Arapahoe Basin will implement a lighting retrofit of all of its base area buildings, resulting in an estimated reduction of 53,042 kilowatt hours (kWh) annually and a utility savings of $4,509.

Mt. Hood Meadows will purchase and install water bottle refilling stations in the ski area's highest traffic areas to encourage guests to reduce the use of disposable water bottles.

Stratton will purchase and install four solar compactors to reduce the number of trips necessary to perform waste removal at the resort by 80 percent, in turn reducing the resort's GHG emissions.

Stevens Pass will expand its existing and cutting-edge electrical vehicle program by incorporating charging for additional vehicle types, including utility runabouts (UTVs) and snowmobiles.

Two in-kind high-efficiency snowmaking system grants provided by Snow Economics/HKD Snowmakers were awarded to Oak Mountain and Beaver Valley. Each ski area will receive five high-efficiency snowmaking guns from Snow Economics/HKD Snowmakers, a value of $40,000 for each resort.

"We are thrilled to be a part of the Sustainable Slopes Grant Program again this year. We look forward to working with Oak Mountain and Beaver Valley to support their sustainability goals of greater snowmaking efficiency," said Snow Economics president Charles Santry.