Last Gasp?
As the effects of climate change intensify, ski resorts in the Rockies will become the last bastion of winter sports. But are they also contributing to winter’s demise? The Outdoor Minimalist takes a deep dive into the environmental impacts of our beloved ski resorts.
The Rockies are renowned for world-class ski resorts, drawing winter enthusiasts from across the globe. Yet, beneath the surface of these snow-covered peaks lies a growing concern that threatens to reshape winter sports as we know them.
“The main change in snowfall patterns that can be attributed to climate change is that we are increasingly seeing precipitation fall in the form of rain rather than snow,” says Dr. Christine Albano, associate research professor in ecohydrology at the Desert Research Institute. This shift is more than just a statistical anomaly, and it has profound implications for the winter sports we love. Albano adds, “I suspect that warmer temperatures and higher humidities caused by climate change already have, or could, result in higher-density, lower-quality snow in some places.”
As the allure of the Rockies’ resorts intensifies, so does their environmental impact. Skiing’s footprint includes significant land-use changes, water consumption for artificial snow, and substantial carbon emissions, not only from operations, but from guests traveling from afar to ski. Ski resorts require extensive land use for ski runs and infrastructure, which involves clearing forests and altering natural landscapes. One of the largest ski resorts in North America is Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, which takes up 7,300 skiable acres and includes 41 ski lifts among the other infrastructure required to operate the resort.
“With guidance from the NSAA Climate Challenge, more and more ski resorts are creating sustainable and climate-friendly operations.”
The process of creating a skiable area involves mechanized grading that compacts soil, increases pH levels, and reduces nitrogen content. This leads to erosion and sedimentation that can harm pristine waterways. According to Daniel Moscovici’s study Ski Resort Closures and Opportunities for Sustainability in North America, these changes degrade soil quality and vegetation, making it difficult for the land to recover and maintain its natural functions.
Albano observes that this type of landscape alteration also contributes to habitat fragmentation, disrupting wildlife migration and reducing the biodiversity of these areas. The construction of new ski trails often exacerbates these issues, leading to further environmental degradation and making it challenging for native plants and animals to thrive.
Many ski resorts and the National Ski Area Association (NSAA) have increased sustainability operations to combat some of the pressures from climate change and balance the environmental degradation created by their operations. Efforts to reduce this footprint include investing in more sustainable practices and energy-efficient technologies, though balancing these with growing visitation and operational demands remains a significant challenge.
Climate and snow scientists maintain that the operation of ski resorts requires significant energy—particularly for snowmaking, lifts, and lodges—contributing to their overall carbon footprint. Resorts rely on renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, impacting their environmental sustainability. “There is more investment and use of snowmaking equipment, which allows resorts to get their seasons started sooner and maintain snowpacks longer,” says Albano.
The NSAA’s 2023 Inaugural Climate Smart Snowmaking Study highlights the role of snowmaking as a crucial operational tool for ski areas, allowing them to maintain consistent snow conditions and extend their seasons, despite the challenges posed by climate change. The study underscores that snowmaking can improve resilience against climate variability, but is not a solution to climate change. Key findings include that snowmaking accounts for less than 1% of total water use in major water basins, such as Colorado and Vermont, and that greenhouse gas emissions from snowmaking are relatively low. These emissions are expected to decrease further as ski areas transition toward clean electricity and more renewable energy is integrated into the grid.
“Snow destinations across the Southwestern U.S. that are already on the fringes in terms of snow season reliability may not be snowsports destinations in the future,” says Albano. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be a priority among all industries, particularly the snowsports industry, to combat climate change. Carbon emissions from transportation, such as shuttles and guest vehicles, further contribute to growing environmental concerns.
With guidance from the NSAA Climate Challenge, more and more ski resorts are creating sustainable and climate-friendly operations. Resorts named in the 2023/24 Sustainable Slopes Report for their environmental policies include Arapahoe Basin, Colorado; Big Sky Resort, Montana; and Vail Resorts, Colorado. Other resorts, such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Aspen-Snowmass, Colorado; Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico; and Park City, Utah, are also actively working to identify their environmental impacts and implement strategies to address them. The question that remains: Is it enough?
The most common focus among all resorts is on clean energy and achieving net zero emissions by a distinct target date. For example, Montana’s Big Sky Resort has a plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, but within that plan, it includes the expansion and continued development of facilities. While these may be necessary updates, technological and “green” advancements further contribute to resource extraction and land use. Plans like these move the resort industry in the right direction but continue to rely on outdated environmental standards such as enhancing recycling and composting or integrating more carbon offsets instead of addressing waste and resource uses head-on or attempting to consume less.
Some resorts, like Arapahoe Basin, have an even loftier goal of being carbon neutral as early as 2025. In 2000, A-Basin co-founded the NSAA’s Sustainable Slopes Environmental Charter, and a few years later, in 2008, helped create the NSAA Climate Challenge. A-Basin’s top sustainability policies are focused on waste reduction, energy use, and water use. The resort aims to achieve 75% landfill diversion by 2025 and to transition to 100% renewable electricity with ongoing electrification and efficiency efforts. Additionally, the policies aim to conserve water by limiting use despite development and increased visitation, recognizing the critical impact on our watershed.
The most common focus among all resorts is on clean energy and achieving net zero emissions by a distinct target date.
Eldora Mountain Resort is on the same track. “Addressing climate change isn’t just the right thing to do,” says Hunter Wright, sustainability director at Eldora, “it’s also good business. We’re proud to say Eldora’s energy comes almost entirely from renewable sources, and we’re confident that we’ll reach 100% by early 2025.”
Other adaptations to climate change may be more noticeable to resort skiers. The cost of day passes at resorts has increased, and, as noted by Albano, this could be to motivate people to buy season passes instead. Multimountain passes such as Epic, Ikon, and Mountain Collective are another bet-hedging strategy providing flexibility for skiers to “follow the snow” while still allowing resorts to have a consistent income. However, this strategy may further prevent fair and equitable access to winter sports.
While more resorts join the Climate Challenge each year, some are still in the early stages of their climate-action plans, offering lofty claims and goals without a clear path to push them into practice. Regardless of their current stage, it is clear that ski resorts seem to be taking climate change and its implications seriously. Recognizing the impact the resorts have individually and collectively is a necessary step and a conversation that should be shared among the resorts and with climate and snow scientists to ensure future policies align with climate projections.
“The thing that concerns me the most is that we have less snow than we used to, and we are continuing on this trajectory with warming temperatures,” Albano says. “The implications of this go well beyond impacts to the winter sports industry, as snowpack is such an important contributor to our water supplies. The impacts of climate change on the winter sports industry that we are seeing now are a bellwether for other changes to come.”
Cover photo: Courtesy Eldora Mountain Resort
Meg Carney is the author of Outdoor Minimalist: Waste Less Hiking, Backpacking and Camping, host and co-founder of The Outdoor Minimalist Podcast (outdoorminimalist.com), and producer of the Forever Chemicals Podcast Series.
Getting There
You can cut your own impact—and enjoy the Trip rather than curse the traffic—by sharing a ride to the mountain.
From downtown Denver, RTD’s Snowstang (ridebustang.com) delivers skiers and riders straight to Loveland, Arapahoe Basin, Copper, Breckenridge, and Steamboat. RTD’s Ski-n-Ride (rtd-denver.com, Route NB1/NB2) runs between Boulder’s Downtown Station and Eldora, with departures and returns throughout the day. And the new Pegasus express shuttle van runs between Denver’s Union Station and Avon, with stops in Frisco and Vail. Or check out the carpooling app TreadShare (treadshare.com) to find a lift. Out-of-towners can grab a shuttle from either DIA or Eagle County airport for door-to-door service from Summit Express, Peak One Express, or Epic Mountain Express.
