Until recently, 'green' wasn't really a color associated with winter sports. But these days, a growing number of ski resorts are focusing more on ways to make their operations more environmentally friendly. The idea is to reduce resorts' environmental and carbon footprint and hopefully set an example in the process. Ed Ramey, who has worked as an attorney for the Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) and helped file a “friend of the court” brief for ASC in the Supreme Court's landmark climate change case a few years back, says the motivation is pretty simple:
“Over the last 15 years, we have been experiencing increasing temperatures on the order of two to three-plus degrees on an annual basis."

Ramey adds that current climate models show Aspen's very existence as a ski destination is in jeopardy.

"Sometime between 2030 and 2100, we could be put in the position where the ski area is no longer economically viable, and that doesn't just mean Aspen, but other ski areas across the country as well."

He claims that Aspen has already had to shoulder the cost of increased snow making because of an increase in the number of "frost-free" days. So it should probably come as no surprise that Aspen Highlands, Aspen Mountain and ASC-owned Buttermilk Mountain made the most recent top-ten list (put out by the Ski Area Citizen's Coalition LINK: http://www.skiareacitizens.com/index.php?nav=top_ten) of environmentally friendly areas, with the latter two taking the 'green' gold and silver, respectively.
So in the interest of making sure skiing and snowboarding don't become exclusively Canadian sports, here's our list of five ski areas doing their part to preserve our climate, our snow and our way of life.
1. Aspen Skiing Company
They're about more than just serving celebrities and sweet steeps. Aspen has become an undisputed leader in greening their mountains and one of the only ski companies to be ISO-certified as a 'green company.' Aspen starting purchased carbon offsets to balance all of its energy before most of us were even familiar with the term, all their snow groomers run on bio-diesel, it started its own environmental foundation which has raised over a million dollars from employee contributions and matches, built one of the first LEED-certified buildings in the world, plus a few more, and even built a small hydro-electric plant and the largest photo-voltaic solar array in the industry – no matter how you look at it, that's a lot of green!

2. Park City, UT
This is a town that takes its snow seriously and doesn't want to see it end up as part of a Smithsonian exhibit. As a matter of fact, the day this story hits skiresorts.com, the good people of Park City will have just wrapped up their first SOS (Save Our Snow) event to raise awareness and get the skiing public all in on the act of reducing our carbon output. On the mountain, initiatives from more washable dishes in the lodge to fewer snowmobiles and a general focus on efficiency put the Park solidly among the greenest slopes around.

3. Grand Targhee, WY
Targhee is something of an up-and-comer in the green scene; the winner of 2009's Golden Eagle Award for environmental excellence from the National Ski Areas Association, the resort is the first travel related business to become a founding member of the Climate Registry - the leading greenhouse gas inventory regulator in North America. The area's goals to reduce its carbon footprint in line with the Western Climate Initiative goals by 2012 have already resulted in a 166 metric-ton reduction of carbon dioxide, just for last year. On your next visit, expect a resort run by wind and hydro, Cats powered by bio-diesel and an upfront education campaign to get visitors in the sustainability act.

4. Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, MA
It's a smaller mountain you may not have heard of, but it seemed that anyplace where you can ski or ride in the shadow of a huge wind turbine should be on this list. The area is also big on recycling, wildlife habitat protection, and of course, waterless urinals.

5. Tahoe Area Resorts, CA/NV
Kirkwood is looking at putting in 20 wind turbines; Squaw Valley is working towards zero waste and a lighter carbon footprint; Alpine Meadows is using bio-diesel, promoting recycling and launching re-vegetation projects; Boreal Mountain and Homewood also earned an 'A' in the Ski Area Citizens' report card, leaving plenty of options around the lake to ski green.


Honorable Mention: Whistler This big boy doesn't often make many top ten lists when it comes to being eco-conscious just due to the sheer size of the resort, but Whistler has made considerable in-roads cutting back their carbon footprint. It is currently wrapping up a hydro project big enough to measure its energy output in gigawatt-hours - giving the area a huge credit when it comes to clean energy production. Telluride and Taos don't trail too far behind.
Photo courtesy of Jordan Curet
