Super Eco

Photo credit: SXC

When I think skiing, I think snow. And cold fingers. And falling down a lot. Oh wait, that's just me. When you think skiing, you think majestic mountain views, luscious pristine powdery slopes, and wildlife looking on from beside the trail, applauding your form and your appreciation for the wilderness. Right?

Too bad skiing basically wrecks the environment. Yikes. That's right, we knock down trees to build slopes, we install huge unsightly chairlifts and operate energy-sucking snowmaking machines that mock Mother Nature as we gleefully wield them to create snow where there was none, all so we can drive up to unspoiled mountaintops in our SUVs and slide around on the manmade snow and get some fabulous exercise while enjoying nature. We've created something sort of awful. But now the ski industry is making changes. Enviro-awareness, here we come!

Eco-terrorists like the Earth Liberation Front have brought attention and awareness to the harm created by the ski industry, but the industry is taking note. Exhaust-spewing two-stroke snowmobiles are being phased out. Comprehensive recycling programs have begun. Ride-sharing initiatives are encouraged Environmental groups are also advocating usage of renewable energy, limiting ski area sprawl, and benign expansion, all with the awareness of the habitats being affected.

How does your favorite ski area stack up in the enviro department? The Ski Area Citizen's Coalition has created a scorecard comparing American ski areas on these points:

• Impacting roadless areas
• Logging old growth forests
• Purchasing clean, renewable wind energy
• Using cleaner burning, biodegradable biodiesel.
• Performing energy efficiency upgrades

My closest ski area, Mt. Baker, scored the higheset in the state with a B. There's room for improvement there. If you're a skier, encourage your ski areas to take steps toward greener slopes. We'll all appreciate it.