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In a sport that continues to grow around the United States and gain popularity with 9.2 million participants skiing still does pose its own issues. The biggest of these issues is climate change, and the problem is that global warming is hurting the ski industry, but the ski industry is adding to global warming by operating all of the resorts. Another issue is presented in Northern California with resort naming and indigenous sensitivity. Lastly, like every aspect of life the Covid-19 pandemic left its lasting mark on ski resorts around the country.

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National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Mission statement for ski resorts being more sustainable.

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National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Mission statement for ski resorts being more sustainable.

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How Climate Change is Affecting the Skiing Industry: Articles

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How Climate Change is Affecting the Skiing Industry: Articles

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How Climate Change Will Impact the Snowsports Industry

https://protectourwinters.org/how-climate-change-will-impact-the-snowsports-industry/

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-and/climate-skiing

How Skiing Can Survive Climate Change

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-skiing-can-survive-climate-change-11612969209

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Lasting effects the pandemic had on the Skiing industry.

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Lasting effects the pandemic had on the Skiing industry.

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Like everything else, the ski industry suffered at the hands of Covid-19 in the winter of 2020. Not only did the Ski areas suffer but so did the restaurants, shops, and towns nearby that depended on the ski resorts to bring in masses of people and tourists during the winter months who would provide income and revenue.

How Ski Resorts are Preparing for a Pandemic Season
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/25/business/stay-alive-and-survive-ski-resorts-brace-for-a-pandemic-season.html

Covid-19 Hurts the Ski Industry but Digital Revolution Seen as a Way to Recover
https://theconversation.com/covid-19-has-crippled-the-winter-sports-industry-but-a-digital-revolution-will-help-it-recover-153479

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Long time ski resort and home of the 1960 winter Olympics Squaw Valley changes name after 80 years to "Palisades Tahoe" 

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Long time ski resort and home of the 1960 winter Olympics Squaw Valley changes name after 80 years to "Palisades Tahoe" 

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Squaw Valley Resort, Acknowledging its ‘Racist and Sexist’ Name and Changes It

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/us/lake-tahoe-resort-renamed.html

Famed Squaw Valley Ski Resort Changes Name to ‘Palisades Tahoe’

https://californiaglobe.com/articles/famed-squaw-valley-ski-resort-changes-name-to-palisades-tahoe/#:~:text=Famed%20Squaw%20Valley%20Ski%20Resort%20Changes%20Name%20to%20'Palisades%20Tahoe',-Change%20due%20to&text=The%20famed%20Lake%20Tahoe%2Darea,over%20a%20year%20of%20deliberations.

New Name Comes to One of Lake Tahoe's Biggest Resorts
https://www.palisadestahoe.com/new-name

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Example of how a ski resort used deforestation to develop the land so it's easier for skiers, but leaves lasting damage to mountains.

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Articles and research about how ski resorts can become greener and why they should.

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Articles and research about how ski resorts can become greener and why they should.

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By becoming greener ski resorts would not only be helping the environment as a whole but doing this would also benefit themselves. Helping to slow and stop climate change would make annual snowfall also stop decreasing benefiting all resorts. This would create more jobs for people and raise the economic value for the indusrty.

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Articles and research about how ski resorts can become greener and why they should.

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Articles and research about how ski resorts can become greener and why they should.

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Can Skiing Ever be Green?
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2018/11/hot-topic-can-skiing-ever-be-green

How Skiing Can Start to Become More Sustainable
https://bluebirdbackcountry.com/the-uptrack-is-backcountry-skiing-more-sustainable-than-resort-skiing/

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Sweeping down a perfectly groomed piste, with fresh air in your lungs, mountain vistas all around can feel like the most wholesome, natural pursuit. But behind this pure thrill loom copious environmental concerns. From flattening trees to create runs, to energy-guzzling infrastructure, snow sports stand accused of destroying the very environment they celebrate.

And the environmental clock is ticking. The industry is having to survive in ever-decreasing seasons. Winters are generally shorter by a month compared to 30 years ago and experts predict that we're heading to exceed the 2C global average temperature limit set at the Paris Agreement. This spells an end to the ski industry within the next 80 years in all but high or very northern locations. In the Alps, snow cover could drop by at least a third by the end of the century - leaving low-lying resorts unusable and forced to close. This sees the industry competing in an increasingly claustrophobic market. And it's a catch-22 situation - in order to survive, the ski industry needs global warming to halt, yet the way resorts are run is leaving a huge carbon footprint that's contributing to climate change.

Resorts are having to get smart to survive. Laax, in Switzerland, is working on a sustainability project called Greenstyle, with an aim to become the world's first self-sufficient ski resort. "We need snow but right now snow needs us," says Reto Fry, sustainability manager at the Weisse Arena Gruppe that runs Laax. "Our goal is to eliminate our CO2 emissions and encourage others to join us."

The Swiss resort has already cut its energy consumption by 15% over the past seven years, and it now acquires 100% of its energy from CO2-neutral sources, such as hydro, wind and solar power. Waste heat from its train engines is used to warm surrounding buildings, and there's an increasing number of charging stations for e-bikes and electric cars. Restaurants serve local produce with a smaller carbon footprint than the food that's often flown in to mountain resorts, and Laax has also added recycling stations and water fountains around the mountain, so skiers can avoid buying plastic bottles.

By 2023, Laax wants to have halved its waste and be oil-free (all lifts are already powered by hydroelectric power but oil is still used to heat some buildings).

Being environmentally-friendly is moving from fashion to necessary function. Ski lodges and hotels are competing for increasingly eco-aware customers with green infrastructure and initiatives. Even kit can be sustainable, with brands such as Picture making clothing from recycled materials, while skis and boards are moving towards ethically sourced bamboo by companies such as Lonely Mountain Skis, and Nix Snowsport Co.

Resorts, too, are realising that green credentials can win them more visitors. In Colorado, Wolf Creek has switched all its energy consumption to carbon-free solar power and its snowcat machines run on biodegradable grapeseed oil. Vail Resorts has also pledged to achieve zero carbon emissions across all its resorts by 2030, while in California, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski area is set to be supplied by 100% renewable energy by the end of the year.

Closer to home, Chamonix plans to slash its carbon emissions by 20% by 2020. Its energy-saving projects - which include a free resort train for skiers - have earned it the Flocon Vert ('green snowflake'), a sustainability award given by Mountain Riders, a French group that campaigns for a more sustainable winter sports industry.

Villars, in Switzerland, has also introduced sustainability initiatives, which range from a fleet of hybrid buses to low-energy snowmaking systems and fitting public buildings with solar panels. Over in Lech, Austria CO2 emissions and air quality have been improved by building a biomass plant to provide heat and hot water, and by laying on a free bus service to remove reliance on cars.
A green dream?
But can skiing ever be truly eco? After all, most of us who fly to a resort are ramping up the planet's carbon emissions before we even get there. A typical one-way journey by plane to a ski resort creates around 122 kg of CO2 per person, while a journey by train emits 90% less (12 kg of CO2 per person), according to research by Best Foot Forward.

"Aviation is the fastest-growing contributor to global warming, so avoiding a flight when there's an easy alternative is probably the biggest single thing that any individual can do to cut their carbon footprint and limit their own impact on the environment," says Kate Andrews, co-founder of rail booking site, loco2.com.

The fastest journey from the UK to the Alps by train is around seven hours, (routes from London St Pancras to Moûtiers, Aime la Plagne and Bourg-Saint-Maurice), where onward transfers usually take between 10 and 40 minutes. Sounds too slow? Andrews claims that once you factor in airport check in, passport control, baggage collection and lengthy transfers, the difference isn't quite so hefty.

So, take the train to rack up those green points (Snowcarbon offers detailed journey planners, rail-ski packages and route info) but it's the in-resort infrastructure that also makes a heavy hit on the environment. Warmer winters means a worrying lack of snow, with most resorts relying significantly on cannons for a quick fix. These machines - which work through the night, spraying water mixed with nucleating agents into the freezing air to create artificial snow - have a considerable environmental impact. Across the Alps, artificial snow consumes the same amount of water each year as 1.5 million people - and in some regions, tap water is even used.

For Justin Francis, CEO of Responsible Travel, the arrival of snow cannons at virtually every major resort over the past decade is a worrying trend. Many resorts, including Laax which has 300 snow cannons, power them entirely by renewable energy and use water saved in artificial lakes - but not all. "Between 200 and 600 litres of water are needed to make every square meter of snow," Francis says. "One third of ski resorts in the French Alps now have drinking water shortages. So, there's a direct competition between the ski industry and providing water for local residents."

As well as paling in comparison to the feeling of skiing on real powder, artificial snow is four times harder than natural snow - not fun if you take a tumble. "Fake snow is less safe, and the chemicals used to make it leech back into the environment when it melts," Francis says. "It's also expensive to produce, pushing up the price for ski passes. The downhill ski market is already declining, and it will continue to shrink partly due to the cost of producing fake snow."

Over in America, Aspen powers its snow guns with grid electricity that's 39% renewable and growing, thanks to a collaborative effort between the utility and the resort. The Colorado resort is on track to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 from 2000 levels, having introduced renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. But for Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability of Aspen Skiing Company, dealing with climate change is about more than solar panels and reusable water bottles - and political lobbying is key. He also says skiers wanting to reduce their impact on the environment while pursuing the sport they love should write to resort CEOs asking what they are doing on climate policy.

So, should we all stop skiing in order to save the environment? Not yet, says Auden. "It's not skiing that the problem, it's how we power our economy. Nothing can be eco-friendly in a world running on fossil fuels. But if we can decarbonise, sure, skiing can be eco-friendly."
Published in the Winter Sports guide, distributed with the November 2018 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK)

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Sweeping down a perfectly groomed piste, with fresh air in your lungs, mountain vistas all around can feel like the most wholesome, natural pursuit. But behind this pure thrill loom copious environmental concerns. From flattening trees to create runs, to energy-guzzling infrastructure, snow sports stand accused of destroying the very environment they celebrate.

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How Climate Change is Affecting the Skiing Industry

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How Climate Change is Affecting the Skiing Industry

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Since the 1960s in North America every year the snowfall and snow depth has been decreasing. There have been outlier years but on average the numbers have been going down. The increase in global temperatures has been causing the number of dry days (no snow) to rise each year. This overall decrease in annual snowfall has a large impact on the skiing industry because during years with high snowfall there is an increase in participation which in turn creates more jobs and added economic value. So with the lower snow years, we have been seeing a decrease in participation which is having a negative impact on the industry in terms of lost jobs and economic value decreasing. We can see that in the years 2001-2016 during a high snow year it added almost 700 million in economic value and added over 11,800 jobs across the industry compared to an average year. On the other hand in a low snow year, the industry saw a loss of 1 billion dollars and 17,800 jobs in comparison to an average year. Climate change and the warming temperatures of the earth are hurting the industry decreasing the snowfall which makes it harder to keep resorts fully open for longer during the winter.

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The Skiing Industries Negative Effects on the Environment: Articles

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The Skiing Industries Negative Effects on the Environment: Articles

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Ski Resorts and Their Impact on the Environment

https://www.treehugger.com/ski-resorts-and-the-environment-1203969

https://alltracksacademy.com/blog/is-skiing-bad-for-the-environment/

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Alpine skiing and snowboarding are great ways to spend time in the mountains during the most unforgiving season of the year. In order to be able to offer this, ski resorts rely on complex and energy-demanding infrastructure, with scores of employees and heavy use of water. The environmental costs associated with resort skiing come in multiple dimensions, and so do the solutions.

Disturbance to Wildlife

Alpine habitats above the tree line are already threatened by global climate change, and interference from skiers is just another stressor. These disturbances can scare wildlife and even harm their habitat by damaging vegetation and compacting soils. For example, ptarmigan (a type of grouse adapted to snowy habitats) in Scottish ski areas declined over several decades because of collisions with lift cables and other wires, as well as from losing nests to crows, which had become common at the resorts.

Deforestation

In North American ski resorts, most of the skiable terrain is located in forested areas, requiring a large amount of clear-cutting to create ski trails. The resulting fragmented landscape negatively impacts habitat quality for many bird and mammal species. One study revealed that in the forest remnants left between slopes, bird diversity is reduced due to a negative edge effect; wind, light, and disturbance levels increase near the open slopes, reducing habitat quality.

A recent expansion of a ski resort in Breckenridge, Colorado prompted concerns that it would damage Canada lynx habitats. A deal with a local conservation group was achieved when the developer invested in lynx habitat protection elsewhere in the region.

As a result of global climate change, most ski areas experience shorter winters with more frequent thawing periods. To maintain services to their clients, ski areas must make artificial snow to have good coverage both on the slopes and around the lift bases and lodges.

Artificial snow is made by mixing large volumes of water and high-pressure air, meaning the demand skyrockets for water from surrounding lakes, rivers, or purpose-built artificial ponds. Modern snowmaking equipment can easily require 100 gallons of water per minute for each snow gun, and resorts can have dozens or even hundreds in operation. For example, at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, a modest-size resort in Massachusetts, snowmaking can pull as much as 4,200 gallons of water per minute.

Fossil Fuel Energy

Resort skiing is an energy-intensive operation, relying on fossil fuels, producing greenhouse gases, and contributing to global warming. Ski lifts usually run on electricity, and operating a single ski lift for a month requires about the same energy needed to power 3.8 households for a year.

To maintain the surface of the snow on the ski runs, a resort also deploys a nightly fleet of trail groomers each operating on about 5 gallons of diesel per hour and producing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate emissions.

These numbers are even incomplete, as a truly comprehensive estimate of the greenhouse gases emitted in association with resort skiing would also include those produced by skiers driving or flying to the mountains.

Solutions and Alternatives

Many ski resorts have made substantial efforts to minimize their environmental impact. Solar panels, wind turbines, and small hydro turbines have been deployed to supply renewable energy. Improved waste management and composting programs have been implemented, and green building technologies have been employed. Forest management efforts have been planned to improve wildlife habitat.

It is now possible for skiers to gather information about a resort's sustainability efforts and make informed consumer decisions, and the National Ski Area Association even gives out yearly awards to the resorts with outstanding environmental performances.

As an alternative, an increasing number of outdoor enthusiasts seek snowy slopes by practicing lower-impact forms of skiing. These backcountry skiers and snowboarders use specialized equipment that allows them to make their way up the mountain on their own power, and then to ski down natural terrain that has not been logged or groomed. These skiers have to be self-sufficient and able to mitigate a multitude of mountain-related safety risks. The learning curve is steep, but backcountry skiing has a lighter environmental impact than resort skiing.

Still, alpine areas are incredibly sensitive, and no activity there is impact-free: A study in the Alps found that black grouse showed elevated stress levels when frequently disturbed by backcountry skiers and snowboarders, inciting consequences on reproduction and survival.

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The Environmental Impacts of Skiing and Snowboarding

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Alpine skiing and snowboarding are great ways to spend time in the mountains during the most unforgiving season of the year. In order to be able to offer this, ski resorts rely on complex and energy-demanding infrastructure, with scores of employees and heavy use of water.

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The Skiing Industries Negative Effects on the Environment

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The Skiing Industries Negative Effects on the Environment

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Skiing can be seen as an outdoor activity and spending time in nature and all that sounds good, but many people don’t see the negative effects it has on the environment. To operate a ski resort there are tons of equipment and machinery that require energy to fuel them. An average ski lift uses the same amount of energy in one month as 3.8 houses would in one year and on top of running ski lifts every night the entire resort has to be groomed by trail groomers and they use 5 gallons of diesel each hour. These levels of energy and fuel create tons of bad emissions that add to the greenhouse gases. Another harmful effect ski resorts have are on the ecosystems where they were built and operate because of the deforestation that is required to build or expand a resort. Resort take down many trees in order to make way for ski trails, ski lifts, and other amenities, this is not only bad for the environment because of the lack of trees but also negatively affects all the animals and wildlife. Deforestation and the maintenance of resorts can hurt topsoil and other resources that wildlife requires to survive causing them to have to relocate and leave their habitats. One of the biggest problems that ski resorts pose to the environment is their water usage to create snow when it is not snowing. When it is not snowing but the temperature is cold enough to make snow they use large amounts of water and put them through machines to blow snow over the resort. So due to winters being shorter than in the past resorts are now doing this which requires large amounts of water and they pull this water from nearby rivers, lakes, and ponds. One snow-making machine can use upwards of 100 gallons of water per minute and bigger resorts can have hundreds of these machines. For example,  Wachusett Mountain in Massachusetts uses up to 4,200 gallons of water per minute for snow making. All of these variables that come from operating and maintaining ski resorts are unhealthy for the environment, especially over long periods of time.