Whistler Canada Among Ski Resorts Gone Green

Whistler Canada Among Ski Resorts Gone Green

Just a few snowflakes is all it takes for skiers to anticipate days filled with downhill runs through ideal powder conditions followed by evenings in front of roaring fires with family and friends. What could be better? How about a resort that takes environmental issues seriously without compromising what skiers love about their sport. In North America, dozens of resorts, including Whistler Blackcomb, have already initiated major changes that will put the resorts on a renewable energy plan.
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nIn the United States the Sustainable Slopes Annual Report notes that 68 resorts are now purchasing renewable energy. Among the resorts purchasing renewable energy are Killington Resort in Vermont, Oregon’s Mt.Bachelor Resort and the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort. Each of these resorts has set as their goals 100 percent renewable energy. In other words, they replace the energy used by their operations. Breckinridge in Colorado is purchasing wind energy, while Jiminy Peak in Western Massachusetts is the first North American resort to build its own wind turbines in order to supply their own energy.
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nWhistler Blackcomb in Canada has been particularly aggressive in moving to 100 percent renewable energy. It is especially notable because Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America. Vail is half the size of Whistler in area. Since 1997 Whistler ski resort and Blackcomb resort have gradually integrated their facilities. While the two mountains are connected at ground level, by the time this is published skiers will be able to traverse the mountains at the 6000 foot level. These and other improvements made by Intrawest, which owns Whistler Blackcomb, have made the ski resort one of the largest premier ski vacation destinations in North America.
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nLargely for this reason the Winter Olympics in 2010 will be held at Whistler Blackcomb. Whistler Mountain will host alpine skiing events as well as bobsled, luge, biathlon, cross country and ski jumping events. To facilitate the Olympic games Intrawest has invested over $600 million to improve the Sea to Sky highway drive from Vancouver to Whistler so that visitors will be able to reach the ski area in two hours. For Whistler Blackcomb enthusiasts the best news is that 90 percent of the area will remain open to skiers during the Olympics.
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nWhile all of these developments are good news for skiers, the decision to take Whistler Blackcomb green is like icing on the cake. Whistler committed to the Fitzsimmons Creek Hydro Project, and construction has already begun to bring it to fruition. The Hydro Project is a renewable energy project that will offset entirely the total annual energy consumption of the whole resort. With an anticipated production of 33.5 gigawatt hours of hydroelectricity each year, the Hydro Project will be able to power both the winter and summer operations. That includes all 38 lifts as well as 269 snowguns, 17 restaurants and all the surrounding buildings and the services each provides.
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nWhistler Blackcomb has been vetting and planning this project for six years. The commitment of the operating management and the thorough and careful project assessment and planning helped to move things along quickly. But Whistler also has conditions conducive to a small hydroelectric plant. Fitzsimmons Creek has all the water necessary and its vertical drop is crucial. Fortunately, the creek is not a fish-bearing stream, nor is it used recreationally. The ski area has been using Fitzsimmons Creek for years as part of their snow-making operation. All of this helps to make the area ideal for the project development and for the greening of the entire ski area.
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nWith its Hydro Project, Whistler Blackcomb is one of the ski holidays in Canada resorts as well as ski resorts worldwide that have made the commitment to go green and reduce their carbon footprints. In the last year the number of ski resorts that have earned environmental management certification has increased by 75 percent. Acquiring certification requires an extremely high standard of environmental management. Patrick Thorne, the author of the Green Resort Guide notes that he has been awarding more and more 5 star ratings to ski resorts committed to reducing the environmental impact of their operations.
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nThorne also notes that just a few years ago any discussion about going green was met with a great deal of skepticism from ski resort owners and management. That attitude has almost entirely disappeared. Resorts are much more interested in knowing what they can do to preserve the ski resort environment. Global warming is encroaching upon all aspects of life, and ski resort managers are as aware of the rapid changes as anyone else.
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nSkiers have a lot of good reasons to look to Whistler Blackcomb and other green resorts for their ski holiday. Just as ski resort managers are paying attention to preserving the environment, so too are the skiers who visit those resorts. It is a good guess that besides assessing the usual enticements in deciding where to ski, asking how green the resort is will become more and more a routine consideration in that selection of a ski holiday.

Posted Date: 2009-01-12 02:42:50