An Eco-Friendly Approach To Skiing And Snowboarding

Terms such as ‘eco’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ have been seized upon by marketing departments in the ski business as another way of promoting themselves by highlighting their ‘green’ credentials.

Of course, it is in their interests to do their bit when it comes to global warming, as this has already been blamed for the closure of several low-level ski resorts due to the lack of snow cover during the season.

There has also been an emergence of organisations such as Save Our Snow and Protect Our Winters UK. The latter was founded by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones.

Save Our Snow is an impartial compiler and publisher of data on what the ski industry and ski resorts are doing to combat climate change.

The Save Our Snow website, which includes a Green Resort Database, was first conceived in 2004 by Patrick Thorne, my long-time ski and snowboard writer colleague. He has spent the past four decades collecting information on ski areas around the world. More recently this has included the effects of climate change and what resorts are doing to combat it.

There have been some accusations of Greenwashing – the deceptive practice where companies, organisations, or governments falsely portray themselves as environmentally friendly in order to gain public approval or market advantage, without making any major meaningful changes to reduce their actual environmental impact.

But on the whole, resorts are doing their best to minimise their carbon footprint and increase their eco-friendliness. Here are examples from two popular French resorts.

On Wednesday 16th July 2025, Val d’Isere is taking part in the Earth Day festival, organised by the Ecomove community, for the 18th time.

Volunteer rubbish collectors are invited to meet at 8am at the Olympique cable car where they are treated to a free breakfast and provided with gloves and bags.

The rubbish collection begins at 8.30am and there are routes for different levels of participants (including one for children).

Collectors return two hours later for drinks and music while the rubbish is sorted and weighed. This is followed by lunch and presentations. There are prizes, including one for the oddest piece of rubbish found.

For more information, CLICK HERE

During the recent T.Rex conference in Bourg Saint Maurice, an event for organisations looking for sustainable solutions, the environmental association Mountain Riders officially renewed Les Arcs’ Flocon Vert (Green Snowflake) certification.

Les Arcs is one of a small number of ski areas to be awarded two Green Snowflakes and the resort claims this recognition reaffirms Les Arcs’ deep, ongoing commitment to sustainable tourism and ecological responsibility in the mountains.

Les Arcs became the first resort in Savoie to obtain the Green Snowflake label in December 2020. Highlights of the resort’s sustainable development strategy include:

• Sustainable transport solutions: 25% of visitors arrive by train, more than double the national average. The funicular aims for one million annual journeys and is free for train travellers in winter and for all pedestrians and paragliders in summer.
• Responsible accommodation policy: A freeze on building new tourist beds encourages the renovation and reuse of existing properties.
• Eco-certified mountain domain: In 2024, the mountain area received BCorp certification, reflecting its commitment to responsible activity diversification. Over 85% of the terrain remains untouched, free of pylons and ski runs.
• Support for seasonal workers: A semi-public company (SEM) has been created to develop quality housing solutions for seasonal staff.

We will be bringing you news and examples of other sustainable and environmental initiatives in future blogs.