Say goodbye to the idea that snowboarding is in any way a sustainable sport. Unless you live within walking distance of an area that offers backcountry terrain without lift access and you're happy to strut around on your carbon-neutral Jones splitboard, you'll most likely generate a lot of emissions.
In times of greenwashing, it is not always easy to filter out which companies really operate sustainably, and this also applies to ski resorts. If sustainability is important to you, then you should know which parameters in a ski resort generate the most emissions. In the following article, you will find the factors that influence the sustainability of a ski resort, sorted by influence.
Energy sources of a ski resort
The biggest influence on the CO2 consumption of a ski resort is the respective energy source of a ski resort, as all the following points are often dependent on this energy source. It is therefore important to enquire whether the energy used by the ski resort is sustainable. Ski resorts that are dependent on energy from brown coal or natural gas, for example, generate particularly high levels of emissions. Due to their location, most ski resorts use hydropower to generate their energy. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to find out in advance about the energy sources of the ski resort you are visiting.
Transport to and around the ski resort
How do you get to the ski resort? By plane, by car, by public transport? The way you get to the ski resort and how you move around the ski resort is crucial to how sustainable your snowboarding holiday will be. This is because transport has the second biggest impact on the emissions generated by a ski resort. The ski resorts often also have an influence on this. Car-free ski resorts with good public transport connections, such as Zermatt, generate fewer CO2 emissions in the area of transport than ski resorts that can only be reached by car. As a rule, the further away your holiday destination is, the more emissions are generated. Travelling by train is the most climate-friendly option, followed by the car and finally the plane. This means that international snowboarding holidays are the most climate-damaging.
Artificial snowmaking
The use of snow machines is commonplace in many ski resorts. Italy and Austria use snow machines particularly intensively. Snowmaking on slopes is very energy-intensive and has a negative impact on the ecosystem.
The use of snow machines is highly dependent on the location and size of the ski resort. Ski resorts at lower altitudes often require more artificial snow than resorts at higher altitudes. There are also ski resorts that generally receive more precipitation in the form of snow. Of course, the more kilometres of slopes need to be covered with snow, the more artificial snow is usually required.
It is best to look for a ski resort that relies entirely on natural snow. Examples of this are the Sonnenkopf Klostertal ski area in Austria or Powder Mountain in Utah.
Waste management and catering
Although this point may not immediately spring to mind when thinking about sustainable ski resorts, waste management does indeed have a huge impact on the emissions generated by a ski resort. The use of reusable materials, the use of materials that are recycled and the reduction of waste in general ensure that less waste ends up in waste incineration plants and generates emissions there.
The biggest producer of waste is catering on the mountain, especially catering offers designed for take-away generate a lot of waste. You can also find out how different ski resorts deal with waste management before setting off on your trip.
In addition, it is also important to source your food beforehand. Catering establishments that rely on local, regional producers also generate fewer emissions, as the logistics are significantly reduced.
Construction
How sustainable a ski resort is also depends on which resources are used to build things like infrastructure or F&B buildings. The energy efficiency of a building also plays a major role here. More modern ski resorts generally have better energy efficiency than older facilities. The main focus here is on replacing old heating systems with more climate-friendly alternatives, but the use of climate-friendly building materials should not be neglected either.
Mountain infrastructure
Whether lifts, snowmobiles or snow cats, getting goods and people from A to B on the mountain requires energy-intensive effort. Ski resorts that obtain their energy from emission-free energy sources can operate their lifts sustainably. When it comes to using snowmobiles and snow cats, things look a little different. Although the first electric snowmobiles have been on the market since 2020, the market for electric snowmobiles is only just developing. Pistenbullys are still a long way from offering a fully electric alternative to diesel-powered vehicles. Even the flagship model from market leader PistenBully®, the 600 E+, still needs a diesel engine to prepare the slopes.
