Vail

Vail: green factor

• Introduction to green factor assessments
• Environmental overview of resorts
• Environmental initiatives

Major Initiatives

One of the World's Largest Corporate Users of Renewable Energy

Vail Resorts became one of the world's largest corporate users of renewable energy when it switched its five resorts and other buildings to use wind power.

The company purchases 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy per year saving the release of over 200 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

The resort's Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly resorts as well as a Lodge it owns in Jackson Hole and its various retail outlets will all have their conventional electricity usage offset by the purchase of power through wind-power broker Renewable Choice Energy Inc. It is not physically possible for Vail to have wind-generated electricity wired direct to them, so instead they buy the equivalent value of wind power, which is then released in to the grid on their behalf.

"By embracing wind power as a clean and renewable source for 100 percent of our company-wide energy use, we want to reinforce our commitment to the natural environment in which we operate ." said Rob Katz, Vail Resorts' CEO.


Vail recognizes its responsibility to care for the ecosystem and public lands which are shared among people from all over the world. Vail's environmental team has been in place since 1997 and their goal is to develop, test and implement programs which will contribute to global sustainability. Vail also maintains a strong presence and leadership in the US ski industry through the Sustainable Slopes program, the environmental charter for ski areas organized by the National Ski Areas Association.

In May 2004 Vail Mountain was recognized with the Silver Eagle Award for Energy Conservation by Mountain Sports Media. Vail continues to step up its commitment to achieving sustainability and minimizing impacts on the environment each year through research and incorporating new technology.

Solar Powered Trash Compactor
In 2004 Vail tested the world's first-ever solar powered trash compactor, named the "Sun Pack Big Belly" with a serial number of 0001. The Sun Pak cordless compactor eliminates costs of removing garbage from different areas on the mountain due to its portability plus it operates on solar power, which can be stored for up to two weeks. With more than 275 days of sunshine per year, the Sun Pack can live in far away areas of the mountain and perform 25 compactions per day.

Wind Turbine Research
Vail currently purchases wind energy blocks from Holy Cross Energy used to power the Wildwood Express Chairlift and Eagle's Nest. For the past two years the environmental department has been exploring the possibility of installing wind turbines on a ridge atop Vail Mountain. The project would include placement of four 100 kilowatt towers on a half acre site at 11,000 feet with the purpose of providing a renewable source of wind-generated electricity while also reducing consumption of fossil fuels and producing energy free of pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions. The wind turbine project would be a joint partnership between Vail Resorts, U.S. Forest Service and Holy Cross Energy and would be used as a demonstration project for potential partial energy dependence at other ski areas, businesses and residences.

Vail Mountain is two years into researching the proposals to install the wind turbines which would cost around $400,000 and power three ski lifts, repaying their installation costs, which may qualify for grant aid, by reducing energy costs, within a decade.

The resort has erected a test tower on Ptarmigan Ridge which has showed that it is a good location and initial consultation process with Vail residents has been generally in favour of the project.

However several issues remain to be determined and it may be another one to two years before the turbines are built, if they are.

Those issues include concern that wind turbines have caused the death of rare birds flying in to them – although the latest turbines rotate more slowly and so cause less of a problem.

Despite the potential long term financial benefits, Vail’s main concern is energy conservation to limit its environmental impact, it already buys in renewable energy and see generating its own as a further step on the same route.

Additional Environmental Programs
SKE-CologyTM Developed in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service, SKE-CologyTM is an environmental educational program designed to teach kids about the resort's ecology while exploring designated on-mountain trails that are named for plants and animals. Kids can collect information and buttons for each trail they complete in their ski or snowboard lesson. The Vail Children's Ski & Snowboard School frequently tours young skier and snowboarders through the Discovery Center at Eagle's Nest which educates kids about SKE-CologyTM.

Employee Incentives
Vail Mountain employees are eligible for the Green Soldier Award which recognizes any employee who strives to make a positive environmental impact on the mountain. Examples include lift operators extracting recyclables from on-mountain trash receptacles or departments modifying their operation to reduce waste. The Golden Can Award is the only on-mountain restaurant competition that recognizes Vail’s most Eco-friendly on-mountain restaurant. Weekly restaurant audits occur to measure recycling and waste management and the restaurant that demonstrates the best practices over the course of the season is recognized and rewarded.

Wildlife Closures
Over the spring and summer the resort enforces wildlife closures in the Back Bowls during the elk calving season from May 1 to June 30 each year. No access either by vehicle or on foot is permitted by resort staff or guests. Closures are strictly enforced.

Energy and Water Conservation Measures
Vail's energy and water conservation efforts are broad and ongoing. Examples include:
- Thanks to low flow restroom fixtures, the 1.73 million gallons of potable water saved annually could fill 9.25 Olympic sized swimming pools. (For beer lovers, that equates to approximately 7,500 cases of beer assuming beer is 90 percent water.)
- During the summer water meters measure usage rates and also monitor for leaks.
- Snowmaking pipe lines have been replaced and the resort has invested in more water and energy efficient snowmaking guns. The old snowmaking pipes are being recycled.
- Chairlift drives have been replaced with energy efficient drives that decrease the amount of electricity used to operate the machinery.
- Compact fluorescent bulbs have been installed at Two Elk Restaurant, in parking garages and at other resort locations saving the resort well over $15,000 annually.
- Motion detection devices are used to turn lights on and off in many locations on the mountain as well as in offices.
- Rain barrels are used in the summertime to collect water runoff from buildings after showers and the runoff is used to water flowers.
- Floor mats in the restrooms at Mid Vail and in basket storage in LionsHead are made from recycled tires and also provide a cushion-like non-slip surface.
- Resort staff use "Townie" bikes to do business in and around town. The bikes eliminate the need for short drives, thus reducing emissions and fuel consumption and they also provide a great way to interact with guests and build up some skiing muscles.
- Vail Mountain has implemented grassroots car pooling and public transportation programs for the past three years to reduce the number of cars on the road, alleviate parking issues and encourage people to leave their cars at home.
- Resort operations has been testing four-stroke snowmobiles which have cleaner emissions than two-stroke engines.
- The Adventure Ridge Kids Snowmobiling uses four-stroke mini-machines versus two-stroke, emitting less Greenhouse gases.
- Self composting restrooms are situated in distant areas on the mountain including China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin.

Recycling Statistics
Due to its size and number of guests each year, Vail Mountain has the largest on-mountain recycling program in North America. The following statistics represent an idea of the volume that the recycling team handles.

Vail's current program recycles 37 percent of on-mountain waste, which equates to approximately one pound per guest. On average Vail recycles 70 tons per month, diverting this content from reaching the landfill. The amount of cardboard recycled in a season could fill Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver six feet deep.

The amount of co-mingled recycling produced each week is enough to fill two city buses. The resort has reduced universal waste by over 80 percent using a can puncturing system and bulb eater. Resort departments purchase post-consumer recycled goods including napkins, paper and cups.

Carpooling
Vail Resorts carpooling was introduced in January 2002. It is designed to reduce parking on South Frontage Road, cut congestion on I-70 (the interstate between Denver and many of Colorado's ski areas) and reduce pollution. Cars with four or more occupants and pick up trucks with three or more that park in Vail Village or LionsHead parking garages can claim one of up to 1,000 $20 on-mountain food credit vouchers that are issued by resort staff on Saturdays and Sundays. Parking is charged by the town of Vail at these locations from $4 per two hours up to a maximum of $12.

"The carpool incentive program is proving to be very valuable to our community," said Bill Jensen, Vail chief operating officer. "While maintaining historical skier volume, it is very encouraging to see 200-350 fewer cars travelling to Vail reducing the overall parking impact within Vail."

Bat Boxes
Vail Mountain installed bat boxes around their snowmaking reservoir, encouraging these insectivores to feast on mosquitoes in a natural means. Vail’s free "bat employee housing" already has a few small, winged participants.

Since resorts are continuously increasing and improving their environmental practices, we update the Green Resort Guide throughout the year. If you have any information about new resort environmental policies/practices or anything that you think we may have missed, please email greenresortguide@skiclub.co.uk.

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