Environmental Improvements for Alberta’ s Rocky Mountain Ski Areas

UTSB Research

Skiing in the Canadian Rockies' beautiful surroundings can easily make one forget about the environmental impacts of the intensive land, water and energy use required by ski area operators. UTSB Research received a major project grant from Alberta Ecotrust to refine and promote best practices for Alberta ski operators.

Taking the Green Route is a third-party evaluation of ski areas’ environmental management and policies. A thorough examination of fourteen ski areas in Western Canada, this scorecard allows the public to compare and contrast different ski areas’ environmental performance. This scorecard uses the same criteria as that used by the Ski Area Citizens Coalition (SACC) to evaluate seventy-seven Western American ski areas. UTSB Research is a member of the steering committee of the SACC.