In the face of a warming global climate, the ski industry is realizing that it has a pretty big platform relative to its size \u2014 and its stakeholders say they\u2019re willing to cooperate in order to survive.<\/p>\n
At a Wednesday panel held during the Mountain Towns 2030 conference in Park City, representatives of four of North America\u2019s most prominent resort owners discussed their roles in addressing the world\u2019s changing climate.<\/p>\n
The panelists \u2014 Vail Resorts\u2019 Kate Swayne Wilson, Alterra Mountain Company\u2019s David Perry, Powdr\u2019s Laura Schaffer and Boyne Resorts\u2019 Stephen Kircher \u2014 gave individual presentations on their efforts for an hour, with about 20 minutes set aside for a question-and-answer session with moderator Bruce Kasanoff and the audience.<\/p>\n
The Utah factor<\/p>\n
Because the companies are often the primary economic drivers in the communities where they own resorts, they play an essential role in the communities\u2019 efforts to deal with the warming climate. Perhaps nowhere is that more visible for the country\u2019s major resort owners than in the Salt Lake City metro, where Park City lies.<\/p>\n
The central Wasatch Range presents a dense web of competing ski areas, the majority of which are prominent assets of the major resort firms and align either with the Epic Pass or the Ikon Pass.<\/p>\n
Alterra, which owns Solitude Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort, wages a two-front battle against Boyne\u2019s Brighton Resort and Vail Resorts\u2019 Park City Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon and in Park City, respectively. Powdr, meanwhile, brings Snowbird\u2019s double-black mystique to bear in Little Cottonwood Canyon and plans to open Woodward Park City this December. (Alta, in Little Cottonwood, is independently owned.)<\/p>\n
However, the panelists agreed that without reliable winters, Utah won\u2019t have its famous natural powder \u2014 or even the hardpack \u2014 to fight over in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s good for business is good for the planet,\u201d said Kircher, president and CEO of Boyne, which is headquartered in Michigan.<\/p>\n
The National Ski Association provides a framework for resort companies to share hard data from their green initiatives, which includes Vail Resorts\u2019 \u201cZero Waste to Landfill\u201d goal and its partnership with Rocky Mountain Power\u2019s renewable energy initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe absolutely believe we need bipartisan climate legislation now,\u201d said Wilson, Vail Resorts\u2019 director of sustainability. She also said that Vail Resorts has lobbied for a federal carbon tax and is \u201cregretting\u201d the Trump administration\u2019s actions on the climate, including pulling out of the Paris Accord.<\/p>\n
Powdr, which owns a number of other ventures outside of skiing, cut its carbon emissions nearly in half by relating the climate change data to its employees and customers on a personal level, according to Schaffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSustainability or work on climate change or care for environment or whatever you want to call it is a change in mindset, a change in mindset absolutely has to be required,\u201d Schaffer said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a laundry list of projects that we\u2019re doing. \u2026 There needs to be more.\u201d<\/p>\n
A loud megaphone<\/p>\n
If every resort and city represented at the conference hit their sustainability goals, it almost certainly wouldn\u2019t make a dent in the global march past two degrees Celsius, Wilson said.<\/p>\n
While the effects of climate change on American mountain towns \u2014 which trend wealthier on average \u2014 won\u2019t compare to the havoc wreaked on communities in developing countries, Kircher, whose company pioneered chairlift and snowmaking technology, said that the resort industry can wield its outsized influence in business and politics as a tool in spurring change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the ski industry is the canary in the coal mine,\u201d Kircher said. \u201cWe\u2019re not a big industry relative to the global economy, but we power something that can make a loud noise and drive change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inseparable from sustainability is the issue of growth, especially in the Mountain West, where populations and economic outputs are exploding in size. In response to a question from an audience member, Perry said that ambitious climate goals should be balanced with the needs of businesses that strive to keep going indefinitely.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy definition of \u2018sustainable\u2019 is being in business forever,\u201d Perry said. \u201cSometimes in our communities that we do business with, the idea of growth is a big battleground. \u2026 All of a sudden growth becomes this big giant obstacle that is seen as evil, and that can be at odds with companies, businesses, small businesses that want to grow and perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alterra chief connected the need for growth with the introduction and reception of the company\u2019s multi-resort Ikon Pass last year, which drew noticeably larger crowds to resorts around the country, including Deer Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we introduced the Ikon Pass last year, we started getting a lot of negative feedback from Jackson Hole, Big Sky, Aspen, (saying) \u2026 \u2018You\u2019re going to ruin mountain towns because people have dreamed of coming there forever and now they\u2019re actually showing up,\u2019\u201d Perry said. \u201cWe need to talk about the elephant in the room, which is what growth in mountain towns really means.\u201d<\/p>\n