There are nearly 2,000 ski resorts in the world. Like a snowflake, no two are identical. From solar lifts, using cattle to manage vegetation, to controlling avalanche zones remotely, there are a litany of innovative practices employed by resorts around the world. Inspiration can lay in taking a look at how the other guys do it.

And creative solutions are often required. In the U.S., more so than in other parts of the world, these stem from governmental regulations. “The USFS is quite unique in the world, as there is much bureaucracy to work with, and far more so than in Europe,” says Paul Mathews, president of Ecosign resort planners. “Greater cooperation between all levels of government and our industry is something I find fairly lacking in America. It is more dog-eat-dog in the States than in Western Europe, where municipalities play a pretty significant role as shareholders and investors,” he says.

That said, we queried a few mountain planners and cherry-picked a few examples of exemplary programs in green practices and avalanche control.


THE ENVIRONMENTAL FRONT
Environmental initiatives can be controversial, as it is difficult to prove legit­imacy. Guests are looking for tangible action, and as once-leading steps become commonplace, that creates a higher standard for ever-more-functional green steps.

The most effective campaigns are action-based and time-tested. Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, for example, is taking a proactive approach to the pine beetle epidemic. It has also employed a creative system using cattle to control vegetation on the slopes.

The pine beetle epidemic is ripping though British Columbia along with many areas of the western U.S., including Colorado and Wyoming. Sun Peaks has addressed the problem since 1997, selectively logging beetle-effected trees to promote healthy forest growth. The trees are selected for cutting in such a way that the effect to the overall scenery and habitat is not overwhelming. The salvaged lumber is sold to offset some of the costs. A win-win byproduct: thinning improved the glade skiing on parts of the mountain.

Also, in a nod to the time-tested practices of ranchers, every summer Sun Peaks allows cattle from surrounding farms to graze on vegetation at the resort. “The grazing has been going on here since the early 1900s, when it was mostly sheep,” says Jamie Tattersfield, mountain operations manager at Sun Peaks. The cattle move up the hill into the sub-alpine zones as summer progresses. Talk about a win-win: this helps keep grass and vegetation down and produces high-quality beef.”

Another innovative practice in ­Canada is logging management intended to aid heli-skiing and tourism as well as forest health. The change—from squarish patchwork cuts to vertical cuts—reflects the region’s declining logging community, a desire to preserve Canada’s forests, and a growing interest in heli-skiing.

The new approach was facilitated by Brent Harley & Associates, the Canadian Forest Service, and Mike Wiegele Heli-Skiing near Blue River, B.C. “We talked with the Forest Service about transitioning from rectilinear cut blocks to vertical cut blocks, and they liked it,” says Brent Harley. The vertical blocks have a lesser visual impact on the forest and are suitable for skiing, which has helped restore some economic stability to the communities that had formerly relied heavily on logging, according to Harley.

And it’s a long-term plan. Logged areas are replanted after cutting. When the trees are high enough to interfere with the skiing (about 10 to 15 years), new areas of land are evaluated for cutting, and the cycle continues.

“It is an example of the tourism and resource industry coming together, whereas a lot of the times they are at each others’ throats,” says Harley. “As environmental and economic challenges mount, sustained prosperity and a desire for multifaceted thinking for the land is becoming more required.”


GREENING OF THE ALPS
A high level of environmental awareness in Europe has led to some creative practices in Alpine resorts. “In Grindelwald, Laax, Gstaad or Zermatt, they know it’s in their best interest to keep the environment as pure as possible because that’s the big attraction,” says Mathews.

In Austria’s SkiWelt resort, the 673-foot Sonnenlift (“sun lift”) rope tow was the first lift in the world to be entirely powered by photovoltaic panels. Installed in 2008, the lift uses 1,216 square feet of collection panels fixed to the south side of a nearby building to power the lift. “Furthermore, there are charging stations for electric cars in SkiWelt Brixen. Upon purchase of a day ticket, guests receive a code, which enables them to charge their electric cars for free,” says Sabrina Traven of SkiWelt’s marketing department.

Lech, Austria, uses a wood chip and wood waste burning biomass plant that heats about 90 percent of Lech’s hotels and lodges. The fuel comes from a combination of local farmers, forest harvests and even the debris from an avalanche pathway. The facility dramatically cuts down the need for fossil fuels and keeps the energy sources quite local.

The Weisse Arena Gruppe, the resort company overseeing Laax, Switzerland among others, has also taken green steps. “Outstanding examples are the solar panels at the lift stations or on the back of the seats of three new chairlifts. That solar energy covers the energy used for heating the seats. Furthermore, we are using only local wood to build the stations of these chairlifts,” says spokeswoman Katja Kamps. The Gruppe has even created its own environmental label for these installations, Greenstyle.


AVALANCHE CONTROL
The nature (pun intended) of the ski business in many parts of the world means guests will likely be skiing on slopes that have potential avalanche risks, whether they know it or not. “If you want to optimize your ski business, you need to consider avalanches at a daily level to anticipate and optimize a solution in time. Avalanches should never reach the emergency level. You need to be proactive before they happen,” says Philippe Berthet-Rambaud, CEO of French snow-safety consulting firm Engineerisk.

Gazex’s remotely operated, gas-based release system uses exploders placed in the avalanche start zone and connected to a central gas shelter. “Some resorts in the Alps are able to secure all sensitive parts of their ski area from the office to save time and gain efficiency,” says Berthet-Rambaud.

Common in Europe, Gazex has barely dented the U.S. market. There are 2,500 Gazex units installed in Europe, 82 in the U.S.—and 63 of those are being used by DOT, according to TAS, the company that invented the system.

The limited usage of Gazex in the U.S. stems from a combination of cost, traditional mentalities, and locational need, says Jay Bristow, general manager of U.S. distributor MND Group.

“The reason it’s not widely used in the U.S. is mainly for the cost of the capital investment versus hand charges. However, if everything was equal, my experience is that Gazex is by far the easiest and most effective system out there,” he says.

The difference in ski village layout between the U.S. and Europe also plays a role, with the high population density of some of the European ski villages ill suited for throwing handcharges everywhere. “Where operational concerns really matter is the area where you are going to benefit the most from Gazex,” says Bristow. “Gazex adds safety and efficiency to a variety of operations that are essential to a resort’s day-to-day operations. This could be protecting ski lifts, lodges, homes, maintenance buildings, parking lots, or keeping roads open—whether they be for snowcats or snowmobiles where resort personnel travel, or highways and railways.”

Bristow feels that change in the U.S. will come slowly. “The prevailing generation of upper management, the guys who have been there for 30 years, they may think of Gazex as an unnecessary technical complication, as they’ve been doing just fine throwing handcharges, and they are absolutely right,” he says. Handcharge routes are proven to be ­effective. But patrollers are not always ­available, and it’s not always the best decision to send them out. Gazex is always in place and ready to work—it’s weatherproof.”

Bristow acknowledges that use of handcharges has the benefit of forcing patrollers to get out and view avalanche zones first-hand. When controlled slides are triggered remotely, Bristow says, “you’re not necessarily getting out there early in the morning and really learning what the snow is doing.

“On the other hand, with Gazex working through the night, there’s more time to get out and put your head in the snow, to get focused data, and not be tied to your control route and the pressures of opening terrain on time.”


U.S. STILL A LEADER
Of course, North American resorts are leaders in some respects, such as customer service. “Resorts in North America are generally more engaged in providing a higher level of service. When we do work in China or Japan, the reason they come to us is they want to create a resort that has a high level of service and can keep people happy,” says Chris Cushing of SE group. “Even resorts in Europe are starting to come around, learning from us, from a guest services or skier services standpoint”.