Ski Areas Turn to Wind Power

Renewable Energy is Suddenly Trendy for Ski Resorts

© Mitch Kaplan

Sep 20, 2006

Ski resorts and wind power - perfect together?, Mitch Kaplan

In a nod towards environmental stewardship, ski resorts are buying renewable energy credits, mostly wind power, to operate their lifts and more.

Ski resorts across North America are looking, as Bob Dylan might say, for the answer to be blowin' in the wind.

Wind power, that is.

In a rash of press releases, ski resorts nationwide are announcing a sudden dedication to wind power and renewable energy, which seems to have become de rigeur for resort operators.

Muellers Go "Green" to Power "White" read the press release headline for Okemo, Mt. Sunapee and Crested Butte. It went on to read that the Muellers have entered into an agreement with Gunnison County Electric Association to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates from Sterling Planet, the nation's leading retail renewable energy provider. Demonstrating their commitment to environmental stewardship, the Muellers are purchasing 27 million kilowatt hours of Sterling Planet's Renewable Energy Certificates from Gunnison County Electric Association . . . to fully offset the annual use of electricity by the Mueller's three resorts.

"Protection of the environment is one of our core values. It is also very important to our guests," says Tim Mueller. "We have the ability to demonstrate that Okemo, Mount Sunapee and Crested Butte are good community and corporate citizens working toward energy independence for America through clean, renewable sources like wind energy."

This purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates will . . . save an estimated 18,800 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. This is equivalent to emissions produced by the annual electricity consumption of approximately 2,200 average homes or carbon dioxide emissions associated with the combustion of 1.9 million gallons of gasoline.

Others have jumped on the band wagon:

  • Vail Resorts, Inc., will offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing nearly 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy for its five mountain resorts, lodging properties, retail locations, and new corporate headquarters. This alleviate generating more than 211 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to removing 18,000 cars from the roads or planting more than 27,000 acres of trees.
  • Shawnee Peak is the first Maine ski area to choose 100 percent wind power to electricity consumption for its lifts, snowmaking equipment, lights, lodges and administrative offices with zero-emission wind power.
  • Crystal Mountain is the first Michigan ski area to make a commitment to renewable wind energy by powering its high-speed chairlift, the Crystal Clipper, entirely with wind power.
  • California's Sugar Bowl Ski Resort began utilizing renewable energy in 2006.
  • Massachusetts' Jiminy Peak is building its own wind turbine, scheduled to be operational in 2007, to partially power the resort.
  • Sierra-at-Tahoe and the Northstar-at-Tahoe have purchased a portion of their energy in the form of wind power.
  • Steamboat Resort purchases enough wind energy to prevents the emission of more than 500,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year; its wind-powered, Burgess Creek chairlift keeps 832 pounds of sulfur dioxide, 432 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 220,960 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
  • The Aspen Skiing Company is completely utilizing renewable energy.

    • The Aspen Times reported that Aspen Skiing Company's research revealed that 30% of surveyed skiers said they were concerned about environmental issues when considering where to ski, up from 10% in 2000. The paper also noted that Aspen will put forward a message "that's bold and able to break through," by advertising its environmental message in North America's biggest ski publications, including Ski and Outside magazines.

    Vail drew praise from environmentalists for its efforts. The Vail Daily reported that Sloan Shoemaker with the Aspen-based Wilderness Workshop called [the move to wind power] "tremendously good news" while Ben Doon with the Ski Area Citizens Coalition said it was a "great step."

    Doon's group issues a yearly report card on the nation's ski areas, grading them on their environmental sensitivity. Typically, Vail Resorts' mountains have scored low, due in large part to ongoing base-area development. But the wind power should kick them up a notch, Doon said.

    "They'll get more points in the renewable energy criteria," he said. "I'd hope to see a domino effect, with other resorts following Vail's lead. We were waiting for them to do this."

    Is all this blowin' in the wind as good a thing as it seems? Time will tell. But, it's worthwhile to consider that destinations like Aspen are home to some of the country's richest people who live in huge houses (often only part-time) and fly private jets into and out of the local airport. Not to mention the predominance of amenity-rich luxury lodging properties and gas-guzzling SUVs as automobiles of choice.

    Still, every little bit helps, and a turn to renewable energy certainly can't hurt.


    The copyright of the article Ski Areas Turn to Wind Power in Winter Sports is owned by Mitch Kaplan. Permission to republish Ski Areas Turn to Wind Power must be granted by the author in writing.




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