Story by Rosemary Camozzi

Since it's January and many trips are based around winter sports, I decided to look at Northwest ski resorts and see what they are doing to conserve natural resources and cut back on energy use. I was pleased by what I found. One thing's for sure: If anyone is acutely aware of the earth's warming temperatures, it's those who are trying to make a living in the snow.

Shorter ski seasons caused by diminished snow pack don't just mean less fun; they mean less revenue, fewer jobs, and a generally diminished economy. To address this issue, the National Ski Area Association has initiated a Sustainable Slopes program and has teamed up with the Natural Resources Defense Council to create a national initiative called Keep Winter Cool (www.keepwintercool.org). Check out their site to learn more.

Environmental Foundation's site (www.SkiGreen.org) to find ski areas that offer Green Tags. BEF sells carbon offsets (as renewable energy certificates) to replace traditional polluting sources of electricity with energy that comes from solar and wind power. Skiers and snowboarders can take part in BEF's SkiGreen program by purchasing a $2 SkiGreen Mini-Tag with their lift ticket at participating mountains. This is a $2 premium that goes to support renewable energy, and specifically, helps offset the pollution caused by the average drive to a ski resort. Many Northwest resorts are taking part in this program.

A number of ski resorts in this region have also won national awards for their efforts to educate the public and slow down their own contributions to climate change. In fact, Mt. Ashland, in southern Oregon, recently became the first Pacific Northwest ski area to offset 100 percent of its annual electrical use with renewable energy. "We want to be as proactive as we can to combat global warming," says marketing manager Rick Saul. The resort has agreed to purchase, over a period of three years, 780,000 kilowatt hours annually from the BEF. "We bought the credits upfront," says Saul, "and what's more, we've asked our guests to pay for them - to be renewable energy activists."

The program has been a resounding success, with the resort meeting its first-year goals last March and already well on the way to paying for the second year. Visitors are invited to pay $20 extra for a season pass, or $1 extra for a day pass. "Getting people involved and having them take ownership is a key component to environmental stewardship," Saul says. The three-year commitment will offset 3 million pounds of greenhouse gases.

Elsewhere in Oregon, the Shooting Star lift at Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Bachelor's Sunrise Express and Pine Marten Express run on 100 percent wind energy. Bachelor's Super Shuttle runs on biodiesel this year for the first time. Timberline has partnered with BEF to buy enough renewable energy credits for power from renewable sources (mostly wind) to completely power its new Jeff Flood express. Timberline pays a premium to purchase a large percentage of its annual kilowatt usage from the Stateline Wind Farm in Oregon.

In British Columbia, Whistler was recently named one of the 10 greenest ski areas in the world by Fast Company magazine. The resort made habitat protection a primary focus when it developed its new Symphony Amphitheatre. The team of planners included a bear biologist, foresters, and mountain planners, who came up with a design that greatly reduced the project’s footprint and had minimal impact on wildlife. Whistler has also decreased its energy consumption by reducing fleet and vehicle size and purchasing low-emission snowmobiles, using hybrid pickups, encouraging employee carpooling, carrying out building retrofits to reduce electricity consumption, recycling all types of materials from ski poles to beverage containers, and composting. They have reduced waste by more than 540 tons per year and are working with wind generation companies to explore wind power generation.

Other Northwest resorts that are partially powered by green energy include Alyeska Resort near Anchorage, Alaska; Schweitzer Basin, near Sandpoint, Idaho; Moonlight Basin, in Big Sky, Montana (which has also won awards for preserving more than 85 percent of its 25,000 acres as conservation land, and for its forest recovery program that brought land abused by logging back to a healthy balance); Ski Anthony Lakes, in North Powder, Oregon; Cooper Spur Mountain Resort on Mount Hood; and Mission Ridge, Stevens Pass, and Summit at Snoqualmie in Washington.

So as you can see, ski resorts are doing all they can to keep the white stuff coming down. But that doesn't let you, dear reader, off the hook. Here are some things you can do to make a difference:

• Spend your dollars at resorts that take their environmental responsibilities seriously.
• Take the ski bus or carpool to the resort. If you fly, offset your carbon emissions.
• Use recycling facilities at the resort. If there aren't any, ask why.
• Get better mileage by taking off your ski rack and putting your regular tires back on at the end of the season.

The bottom line is, if you love to ski, you can't just think white anymore - you gotta think green.

Northwest Travel Magazine January/Februray 2008