Aspen Snowmass has long been regarded as ahead of the field in terms of its sustainability measures.
This dates back to 1997, before many other resorts recognised the climate risks that the ski industry faced. Since then, Aspen has regularly lobbied for climate and produced sustainability reports every year since 1999.
The Colorado resort continues to work on sustainability. We look at some of the more recent developments in resort.
Sustainable Development
New for the 2022/23 season, one of Aspen Snowmass‘ four mountains, Buttermilk unveiled a transformed €23 million base area including a fully electric skier services building, a renovated Mountain Lodge restaurant and an expanded bar area.
Sustainable Dining
The new Rooftop Cafe at the Aspen Art Museum is now operated by The Farmer & Chef, a husband-and-wife duo dedicated to using local and organic produce. Aspen’s only five-star, five-diamond hotel, The Little Nell, has its own organic garden which it uses to grow the majority of its vegetables.
Green Buildings
Aspen was involved in the creation of the US Green Building Council’s Leadership Energy and Environmental Design Program (LEED). Today, there are six LEED-certified buildings in Aspen Snowmass including the Elk Camp Restaurant, Sam’s Smokehouse and both Limelight Hotels in Aspen and Snowmass.
Partnership with POW (Protect Our Winters)
Aspen Skiing Company has been a supporter of the Protect Our Winters campaign, since it was founded by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones back in 2007. POW works to engage and mobilise the snowsports community in taking action against climate.
In April 2022, artist Chris Erikson created the melting gondola, a structure placed on top of Aspen Mountain to represent the effects of climate change on the ski industry. The Melted Gondola offered visitors an opportunity to reflect on what life would look like if winter melted away for ever.
Vice President of Sustainability
Ausden Schendler, Senior Vice President of Sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company and Board Chairman of POW, has been named a “climate saver” and “innovator” for his efforts in advocating for a change to climate policy and reducing Aspen’s carbon footprint.
Schendler writes and publishes regularly on climate change and works on scale solutions to climate change, including clean-energy development policy and activism. He helped to develop Aspen’s coal-mine-methane to electricity project, the only of its kind in the US, and other pioneering clean-energy projects in solar and hydroelectricity.
Accommodation in Aspen
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