Recycling isn’t the only environmental enhancer the ski industry is leading the charge on and probably no other American business is as environmentally conscious as the ski industry.
“Ski areas are particularly good stewards of the environment because we are so dependent on the environment,” said Chris Stoddard, executive director of the Midwest Ski Areas Association. “I can give you lots of examples of ski areas doing a good job taking care of the environment because lots of them are.”
We decided to take Stoddard up on his challenge and search out some examples. He was right. From solar powered summit restaurants to recycling waste water to handicap access hiking trails to saving a wildflower field from condo developers, ski areas are preserving and enhancing their fragile mountain environments in many unique — sometimes costly — but always intelligent and sensitive ways.
Wintergreen ski resort in Virginia places such a high premium on the environment it has had a fulltime naturalist/biologist on staff since the area opened in 1975. “Out of 11,000 acres here, we’ve set aside 6,700 acres never to be developed,” said Mark Glickman, director of public relations and marketing. On May 16, Wintergreen set aside a 15-acre tract. The field, originally zoned for condominium development, is a natural habitat for trillium, a pretty white wildflower, and the area’s biologist convinced resort officials to save the trillium patch from development.
Snowbird, Utah, also has taken steps to preserve and open up its spectacular natural beauty to more summer tourists. Last summer, in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service and the state of Utah, Snowbird constructed a half-mile-long barrier-free asphalt hiking trail up the side of a beginner slope. The objective was to make the environment accessible to the handicapped — an idea that won rave reviews for the area in the press and hundreds of visitors as well as a Forest Service award. “Initially the trail was funded and built for the handicapped,” said Rusty Martin, vice president of communications and marketing. “But we also found it had tremendous appeal as a relaxing summer walking tour.”
Snowbird contributed $10,000 and all the labor to the project, which is the only handicap-accessible hiking trail in the state. Signs on the trail describe the flora and animals hikers see along the way and breathtaking views down Little Cottonwood Canyon are visible from the observation tower at the top of the trail. “We’ve really had an unexpected response to it,” Martin said.
Other environmental projects around the country include a solar-powered lodge at the top of Sierra Ski Ranch in California and a federally funded bus system run by Heavenly Valley in conjunction with South Lake Tahoe. While solar and wind power haven’t caught on except as curios, other forms of energy generation have. The Balsams Wilderness Resort in Dixville Notch, N.H., derives 80 percent of its electricity from a woodchip burning plant. The cogeneration plant burns sawdust and bark and other waste products from the local lumber industry and converts the output to electricity.
Killington, Vt., meanwhile, is recycling another kind of waste product — water. The only wastewater recycling system in Vermont, Killington’s “blue water” system was designed and built in-house. The system recycles up to 30,000 gallons of water a day during peak winter periods for an annual savings of some 2,750,000 gallons. Preserving the environment does not come cheap, however. Killington estimates the project cost $500,000 to build and install the recycling system, and another $60,000 a year to run it. “In our minds, the benefits of recycling justify the expense,” said Killington vice president Carl Spangler. One unmeasured benefit: The system is so innovative and unusual, it has attracted considerable press attention — all of it favorable.
Keystone, Colo., found out just how expensive preserving the environment can be when it installed the new Outback area in 1990-91. Roughly 1/10th of the $32 million price tag for the project went to meeting — and exceeding — permit conditions on environmental enhancement and preservation. According to Jim Felton, director of pubic relations, it was money well spent. “In our efforts to expand, we would be incredibly shortsighted to foul the environment,” he said.
Keystone’s efforts, which won the resort an “environmentally sensitive award” from the U.S. Forest Service, included spending half a million dollars on revegetation and eight miles of sedimentation fencing to prevent stream erosion. Instead of building roads to haul men and material up the mountain, Keystone used helicopters. It also reserved the new area for glade skiing to eliminate tree-cutting. To attract elk, Keystone distributed salt blocks in the area and stopped work during the elk-calving season. It also stocked the Snake River with a ton of trout. “We see more elk and other wildlife now in the region than we did before,” Felton said.
Although ski areas are investing heavily in the environment, it doesn’t take scads of money to get out front on this issue. Common sense and commitment also go a long way.
Attitash, N.H., received several news writeups last winter when the area hosted the first annual “Ski Mother Earth Vertical Challenge.” The event, which was organized by a national coalition to fight the effects of global warming, attracted about 20 participants in February. “We’re planning to hold it every year from now on,” said Wilcox. “We feel global warming is a threat that is going to affect the ski business. So it makes a lot of sense to get involved.”
