Ski businesses and resorts are being urged to become greener and more cost efficient with the help of a new campaign. The new online guide www.makesnowsportsgreener.com is central to the campaign and uses film clips, top tips and practical step-by-step guidelines to show how sustainable practices can be implemented successfully.
The campaign, which is a partnership between The Travel Foundation and the Ski Club of Great Britain, highlights the cost benefits for business by adopting a green strategy.
The website demonstrates ways to improve ski resort businesses’ practices to make them environmentally friendly under ten categories: Energy conservation in buildings, water conservation, waste management measures, snow production, lift operations, ski area vehicles, transport, sustainable design and construction, environmental policy and communication and education.
The information is tailored for different sectors of the market including ski resort operators, hotels and chalets and other businesses in ski resorts including ski shops and restaurants.
Andorra has been highlighted as a special case study on the website. The destination has already implemented a range of green initiatives which makes it a leader on sustainability.
Examples of the recommendations from Andorra include installing a device on the door of a ski patroller hut which switches the heater off when the door is open and controlling the temperature of buildings with a programmable thermostat (21 degrees when occupied, 17 degrees after hours) to reduce energy usage and save money.
Sue Hurdle, chief executive of the Travel Foundation said,
Going greener brings very clear business benefits and we are encouraging all snow sport operators and destinations to get involved and use the free resource. Not only does it help the environment it also helps the bottom line.”
Caroline Stuart-Taylor, CEO of the Ski Club said of the initiative, “This new website is the first time we have actually offered practical tips to resorts and businesses on how to become greener. It should be useful for resorts across the world as it is also available in five other languages as well as English.”
The production of www.makesnowsportsgreener.com comes following a Snowsports Sustainability Seminar in Andorra earlier this year where environmental experts presented ideas to local businesses about how to become greener and for the Ski Club is the next step in the Respect the Mountain environmental campaign – www.respectthemountain.com.
Frostbite, Ski Dubai’s cuddly polar bear mascot, is stepping out of hibernation this weekend to host a series of themed shows in the run up to the festive season
Frostbite, Ski Dubai’s popular and cuddly polar bear mascot, is stepping out of hibernation this month to host a series of themed shows in the run up to the festive season.
Continue reading ‘Frostbite the cuddly Polar Bear puts on a show at Ski Dubai’
Advanced plans to connect the neighbouring Swiss resorts of Lenzerheide-Valbella with Arosa and create Switerland’s biggest ski area, have been set back by a vote held in each of the local communities to decide whether or not to go ahead with the connection, due for completion ahead of winter 2009-10.
The residents of the smaller ski area of Arosa voted overwhelmingly (84%) in favour of the connection, which would create one of Switzerland’s biggest ski areas with about 220km (138 miles) of piste served by more than 50 lifts.
However , the people of the Vaz/Obervaz area around Lenzerheide, which has a ski area nearly three times bigger than Arosa’s, voted against the plan, with 59.7% of voters rejecting it. Continue reading ‘NIMBY: Locals massively reject Arosa ski lift in community’
Although the world’s first Ski Trac is yet to be built, one advantage of the delay, the company reports, is the availability of new technologies which will provide enormous cost-saving benefits. One of these is a power generation system from the UK using a physiochemical process which creates electricity with zero carbon emissions. Each Ski Trac using this system is thus able to be advertised as 100% green.
Continue reading ‘Ski Trac announces100% green power technology’
Despite having had its earliest opening in its 80 year history with ski lifts, due to huge snowfalls a year ago, Kitzbühel has been battling to shake off an image of being a potential early victim of global warming. The resort – which has one of the lowest major ski areas in the world – had a difficult winter in 2006-7 when the famous Hahnenkamm downhill race, in common with many others in the Alps and North America, had to be cancelled.
Continue reading ‘Kitzbühel claims snowfall bigger now than forty years ago’
A study of public opinion by the Bulgarian branch of World Wildlife Foundation, polled 990 people, and reported that four out of five Bulgarians supported local nature conservation organisations efforts to stop over-development in the country’s mountains. The number is said o be marked increase on previous studies.
75% of Bulgarians said they did not approve of the construction of new hotels, pistes and lifts in the protected areas in the Bulgarian mountains of Rila, Pirin, Stara Planina, Vitosha and Rhodopi. A similar number said they did not think the Bulgarian government was doing enough to preserve and protect the areas.
Continue reading ‘Bulgarians massively opposed to ‘Over Developing’ local mountains for skiing’