A number of environmental organisations and ski enthusiasts are working hard to protect the slopes by raising awareness of environmental issues and reducing the damage caused by tourism.
Mountain Riders
Alpine charity Mountain Riders began life in the year 2000 as a group of dedicated skiers and boarders who would pick up litter at the end of each season. Today, it has expanded to cleaning up 55 resorts, involving almost 2,500 volunteers, which resulted in 17 tonnes of rubbish being collected at the end of the 2008 season. The French non-profit organisation annually produces eco-guides to ski resorts and to mountain gear, encouraging the use of bamboo in skis and snowboard cores or jackets made of recycled plastics.
Save Our Snow
Save our Snow is an environmental campaign started by ski journalist Patrick Thorne, which attempts to do more than simply highlight the issues of climate change in regard to ski resorts. The site is the number one source for information on what the world's leading 250 ski areas are each doing to combat climate change. It also collects climate change projection reports from around the world to create a global melt map and publishes more than 100 environmental news stories from the ski world each year.
Ski Club of Great Britain
The Respect the Mountain Campaign was an initiative set up by the Ski Club of Great Britain in 2004 to help raise awareness of the environmental impact of snowsports. It aims to inform skiers and boarders how they can minimise their impact and preserve the mountains for generations to come. The campaign has donated over £34,000 to several environmental projects including the Woodland Trust tree planting scheme, awareness tools including makesnowsportsgreener.com. The website also hosts the Seven Steps to Preserve the Mountain, the Green Resort Guide and green guidelines for resort workers and snowsports businesses.
Respect the Mountains
Based in Holland, Respect the Mountains is a young organization trying to preserve the Alps for current and future generations by promoting sustainable tourism. The Alps serve as their principle focus since on a yearly basis an average of 100 million people visit the region with visible consequences. To reduce our impact on the Alps, the organization hopes people will think twice before they act and contribute by living along the Respect the Mountains 7 ways. The group targets both the individual tourist through hands-on volunteer programmes such as EnviroTreks, and the tourist industry to raise awareness.
Make Snowsports Greener
Make Snowsports Greener is a tool for snowsport operators, accommodation providers, and any other businesses working in a ski resort, helping them “green” their business. One of the Tools for Action was created by The Travel Foundation in partnership with the Ski Club of Great Britain. The aim is to cut water and energy usage in resorts by up to 20%. A free, online resource including case studies where their concepts have been successfully enacted, including a project in Grandvalira, which reduced the needless operation of electric heaters in lift operator booths. Estimated results of this one simple measure is a cut in electricity consumption of 160,000 kWh and a cost-saving of €10,400 per year.
Commission International pour la Protection des Alpes (CIPRA)
For more than half a century, CIPRA has been working in support of sustainable development in the Alps. In 1952, the year of its foundation, the organization called for an international agreement on the protection of the Alps. Finally, almost forty years later, this ambition was achieved in 1991 when the Ministers of the Environment for the Alpine nations signed the Alpine Convention, for the protection and sustainable development of the region. CIPRA is a modern multilingual information platform for the expert and non-expert alike, both in and outside of the Alps. With its fortnightly alpMedia Newsletter, CIPRA communicates news, publications and events from and for all the countries of the Alps. In addition, CIPRA promotes practical concepts such as its Climalp project, promoting the construction of energy-efficient houses in the Alpine space using timber from the region’s forests.
* Research by Tom Higgins, October 2009