The funicular at Bourg-Saint-Maurice brings skiers straight from the train station to the resort.

The latest efforts to become more environmentally conscious in the ski industry have come from some of the world’s largest and most well-known ski areas.

Paradiski, which encompasses 425km of piste in the French Alps throughout 20 resorts including La Plagne and Les Arcs is actively promoting greener skiing in its resorts. Its list of new initiatives includes recycling, rail access and car sharing.

At the same time, Vail’s operators believe they have created the largest ski area recycling program in the world, recycling or reusing more than 70 per cent of the material at the famous American resort.

Paradiski is advising skiers to travel to the ski area by train or coach as a first choice. Arriving by plane is the biggest contributor to climate change, but the resort also believes cars emit 10 times more greenhouse gases per passenger journey than trains and buses.

Coaches to the resorts serve all the main Alpine airports and railway stations. In Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the funicular meets guests when they step off the TGV and brings them to Arc 1600. In the resorts guests can use the free shuttles between the resorts and villages. The Eurostar departs from St Pancras and takes guests straight to Bourg St Maurice and Aime la Plagne, both resorts in Paradiski.

If skiers do decide to drive, Paradiski recommends they try to share a car. Resorts such as la Plagne offer discounts for carloads of three people or more.

The ski area is allowing skiers to bring along their old skiing equipment and drop it off for recycling at an approved waste reception centre. Scop Tri-Vallées, in the town of Aime la Plagne, recycles old skis, snowboards, boots, sledges, etc. If you are a smoker don’t throw your cigarette butts on the ground, Les Arcs/Peisey-Vallandry resorts give out pocket ashtrays for free.

Paradiski is already one of only a few dozen ski areas where the lift operators all hold international standard certification ISO 9001 – Quality, OHSAS 18001 – Safety and ISO 14001 –Environment.

Vail is working hard on it's enviro-cred by conserving energy, water, and recycling materials.

Vail is already the largest ski area buyer of green energy credits in North America, and now it has announced that it is recycling or re-using more than 70 per cent of the material on the mountain including cardboard, aluminum, glass and even chairlifts and mechanical parts.

In addition, its operator Vail Resorts, which runs Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail in Colorado and Heavenly in California, is continuing its efforts to offset and reduce energy usage. Water efficient toilets and restrooms conserve almost two million gallons of water annually compared to the company’s previous usage, and installing compact fluorescent bulbs has already saved the company more than $25,000 (€15,000).

Combined, Vail Resorts’ energy conservation efforts save more than two million kilowatt hours of electricity, which is equal to the electricity used by 187 US homes in one year.

“These efforts, along with company-wide initiatives such as Appetite for Life, Use Less, Do More, demonstrate a commitment to continuing to act good stewards of the environment,” said a Vail statement.

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