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Ski at an environmentally sensitive ski area

Why This is Green

Many of us don't think about the environmental impacts of skiing while we are whizzing down the slopes. Why would we? We're busy enjoying the great outdoors! But creating and operating ski slopes isn’t always the eco-friendliest experience. Cutting down trees and clearing mountainsides harms wildlife and the surrounding environment. Both ski lifts and snow-making machinery require a lot of energy and produce copious emissions. And think of the night lights! Snow packing causes longer and deeper frost penetration into the soil, which has negative effects on the grasses and plant life underneath.

Thankfully there is no need to independently research every slope you’d like to tackle. Citizens can easily vote with their lift tickets thanks to The Ski Area Citizens Coalition’s scorecard. The non-profit grades ski areas yearly based on several environmental criteria: Habitat Protection, Protecting Watersheds, Addressing Global Climate Change, and Environmental Practices and Polices.

Learn More

How To

When planning your next ski vacation, check out the Ski Area Citizens Coalition’s website.

If you love or are planning to ski a mountain that scores poorly, get in touch with the operations manager and ask them to improve. Customer pressure never hurts.

Do your part! Skiing locally means reducing your travel-to-the-slopes impact. And don’t forget to outfit the kids in hand-me-down or second hand gear. Pack food, snacks, water, and hot chocolate in reusable containers, bags, bottles, and thermoses.

Have fun!