Environment and Green Issues News

The Ski Club of Great Britain is looking for volunteers to join the Big Spring Clean on a big day out. The fifth annual Big Spring Clean, organised by the Ski Club as part of their Respect the Mountain campaign, returns with a NEW twist on Saturday 16 June. This year’s event held across three ....More...

For the 8th year running the visitor attraction at CairnGorm Mountain has been awarded the highest status – Gold – in the Green Tourism Scheme administered by Visit Scotland. The Green Tourism Business Scheme, has been running since 1997 and with over 2000 members across the whole of the UK and .... More...

A group representing more than 30, mostly environmental organisations, including the WWF, has issued a statement questioning the FIS decision to stage the second Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Bansko, Bulgaria this weekend when, “…citizen groups and NGOs are concerned that the operator of Bansko ....More...

Now in its fourth year, the Big Spring Clean became even bigger with new resort Glenshee introduced to the mountain clean-up operation. The initiative forms part of the Ski Club's Respect the Mountain campaign that has been running since 2004. Over 80 litter-picking volunteers showed up at the ....More...

The Ski Club of Great Britain are inviting funding applications for research or projects to protect the mountains and support sustainable snowsports. As part of the Club’s ongoing commitment to the mountain environment, a new Respect the Mountain Fund has been launched to help finance research ....More...

The end of the glacier at Argentière in the Chamonix Valley has been given a protective summer coat in a bid to slow down thawing as a result of climate change. Working with the Mayor of Chamonix, and the Prefecture of Haute Savoie, the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc lift operator is spending 3,000 ....More...

The Ski Club's annual resort clear up, the Big Spring Clean, returns to Scotland for a fourth year on Sunday 12 June. This year volunteers will not only be tackling the damaging litter left on the slopes by mountains users at CairnGorm Mountain and the Nevis Range but also, new for 2011, at ....More...

Taos Ski Valley in the US has opted to lower the impact of 100 percent of its energy usage through carbon offsets from Renewable Choice Energy, one of the US’s leading providers of energy and environmental solutions for businesses and consumers. Taos Ski Valley also purchased new snow-cats and ....More...

The S.A.T.A (ski lift company) which runs the lifts and maintains the pistes at Alpe d’Huez has earned three separate levels of certification for its service management. The company is now certified in terms of quality (ISO 9001), as well as in environmental management (ISO 14001) and security (....More...

The Presena Glacier above Passo Tonale is the latest Alpine glacier to attempt to cover its surface with an insulating and reflective ‘blanket’ this summer in a bid to slow its rate of melting. More than 90,000 square metres of the glacier, which was still open for skiing last month, has been ....More...

In its third year, the Big Spring Clean, a mountain clearing initiate from the Ski Club of Great Britain, has again proved a success with hundreds of volunteers heading to the Scottish mountains to clean up rubbish after an epic winter season. In the resort of CairnGorm Mountain, where there .. More...

Patrick Thorne and familyfrom Snow 24In its third year, the Ski Club of Great Britain’s ‘Big Spring Clean’ returns to the Scottish ski resorts of Cairngorm Mountain and Nevis Range on Sunday 20 June 2010. Taking place a month later than previous years due to a record breaking Scottish snow season, .... More...

Next weekend, on the 29th & 30th of May, people all over Europe will be getting together for the Annual spring cleaning of the mountains. So that everybody can become aware of the impact rubbish has in the mountains, and people’s behaviour concerning their rubbish can be changed. Although ski ....More...

In its third year, the Ski Club of Great Britain’s ‘Big Spring Clean’, a Respect the Mountain* initiative, returns to the Scottish ski resorts of Cairngorm Mountain and Nevis Range on 20thJune 2010. Taking place a month later than previous years due to the deep snow bases at the resorts, the .... More...

As the Icelandic volcano disruption continues to obstruct flights, leaving thousands of people stranded in and out of Ski resorts over Europe and in fact all over the world… mountainrideshare.com is one method of travel that could help repatriate these mountain enthusiasts to their end destinations...More...

With Ryanair charging from £40 each way to carry skis this season, it’s now cheaper for holidaymakers to travel with SeaFrance than it is for just their skis to fly! SeaFrance crossings cost from £25 each way for a car and up to five passengers. SeaFrance operate Dover-Calais ferries and the £25 ..More...

A new website, www.muchbetteradventures.com, has been launched targeting skiers and boarders who care about the environment, but not going to let that get in the way of a good ski or snowboard holiday. The site aims to let them, “float through the powder with a clearer conscience.” www.....More...

Bolton Valley in Vermont is the second New England ski area to add a wind turbine to supply a chunk of its annual energy. The resort has extensive snowmaking and offers night skiing to 10pm every night except Sunday so the extra power, currently valued at $33,000 a year, about 15% of the resort'....More...

Travel to ski resorts continues to grow as mountain lovers pursue their passions of skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, climbing and hiking. Hundred of thousands of mountain lovers come from far and wide to experience the rush of speeding down a snow-covered hill or the tranquillity of a .... More...

With a chill in the air sweeping over London, we thought it an appropriate time to focus on an issue that winter sports enthusiasts should have a great interest in. The howies store on Carnaby Street, London, is hosting a Wee Do (in the Scottish sense of the word!) next Tuesday, 17th November. ....More...

Vail is already the largest ski area buyer of green energy credits in North America and now the company believes it is the largest ski area recycling program in the world, recycling or reusing more than 70 percent of the material on the mountain including cardboard, aluminium, glass and even ....More...

For those of you interested in green stuff, you might be interested in checking out the trailer for the Breathe Documentary put together by UK snowboard stalwart Drew Stevenson, Rene Eckart with a bit of help from ravis Rice, Absinthe Films and Method TV. More...

A new independent website has launched with the aim of encouraging more people to travel by train to ski resorts. snowcarbon explains exactly how to book rail journeys, how to get the best fares, and which resorts are easiest to reach by train. The site which was founded by two respected ....More...

It was “The start of the end of skiing in the Alps” two seasons ago when in the middle of one of Europe’s worst ski seasons for snowfall the small French resort of Abondance announced it would not be running its lifts. The Associated Press agency seized on the news and it appeared in newspapers ....More...

Andy Pag (34 London), the eco-adventurer who drove a chocolate powered lorry to Timbuktu using waste cocoa butter and organised the Grease to Greece Rally where teams had to scavenge chip-fat to power their vehicles across Europe, is now setting off to drive around the world [where he will .... More...

Whistler is set to open a new hydro electric system that will generate enough renewable energy to match the entire resort’s power news. “This is going to be a monumental winter season for Whistler Blackcomb. Excitement is mounting for the 2010 Winter Games and we are thrilled to showcase our ....More...

The Mountain Riders environmental group has issued a report on its annual spring cleaning activities across French and now British ski areas and note that 3,500 volunteers turned out to clean up the slopes of 55 participating ski resorts collecting in total 30 tonnes of waste from the ski slopes, ..More...

Vail’s efforts to be more environmentally friendly are on-going, with the famous Colorado resort continuing to develop, test, and implement programs designed to reduce its impact on climate change. A new initiative this summer has seen Vail harnessing the resort’s 300 days of sunshine annually. ..More...

Dick Bass, the owner of Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, has caused consternation amongst environmental groups in the USA, by planning to construct what the Environmental New Service says will be the, “The largest coal strip mine in Alaska history.” along with a business partner. When burned the coal ....More...

Eight Indian soldiers to clean up, then ski down Mt. Everest. Eight members of the Indian army plan to ski down Mount Everest in September, almost doubling the number of people who are believed to have already ski down Everest (about half of them, unsuccessfully – with a number never reaching ....More...

The 18,000 year old glacier which was home for more than 60 years to the world’s highest ski area, Chacaltaya in Bolivia, has now melted away completely due to global warming according to a report by Bloomberg.net. The loss of the glacier has far greater significance than the end of skiing in ....More...

Las Lenas ski resort in Argentina has invested in electricity generators for this current southern hemisphere Winter, allowing the resort to be self sufficient in power production and not reliant on the Argentinian national grid. The generators are part of a $50 million pesos investment which ....More...

Gulmarg in India, the world’s highest major ski area, is facing a “tough battle” in dealing with non-biodegradable waste such as disgarded plastic water bottles and packaging material according to a report from environmental groups. The waste lies scattered beneath the route of the gondola, the ....More...

The problem of preserving snow at conventional ski slopes, particularly on lower altitude runs – always an issue at each end of the ski season and increasingly so with the onslaught of global warming – have been addressed with a new concept from Snowbusiness UK. The company has launched a ....More...

Any remaining climate-change denialists have the opportunity to book a trip to the Swiss Jungfrau region this summer and take a self-guided climate change tour of the region. “Climate change is happening, and the Alps are already feeling the impact,” said a statement from the region, which ....More...

The Big Spring Clean, a clean up initiative organised by the Ski Club of Great Britain, returns for its second year at Cairngorm Mountain and Nevis Range on Sunday 31st May 2009. The event, which attracted over 100 participants in 2008 is a chance for mountain users to do their bit by picking .... More...

The Big Spring Clean, a clean up initiative organised by the Ski Club of Great Britain, returns for its second year at Cairngorm Mountain and Nevis Range on Sunday 31st May 2009. The event which attracted over 100 participants in 2008 is a chance for mountain users to do their bit by picking up .. More...

A new study by the David Suzuki Foundation predicts that much of Canada’s successful ski industry may be put out of business by climate change by the end of the century. "If heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly cut, global warming stands to wipe out more than half of ....More...

The US Clif® bar, an organic-certified energy bar (SCUK can personally recommend the carrot cake flavour), is introducing the first iPhone application to combine ski resort snow conditions with environmental steps the resorts are taking to combat global warming. The unique, portable and playful ....More...

A study by the Spanish Environment Ministry has found that the estimated 3,300 hectares of ice that covered the mountain range between Spain and France at the beginning of the 20th century have been reduced to 390 hectares over the past 100 years. The study also found that the rate of melt has ....More...

The Catlin Arctic Survey ice team expects to leave on their arduous expedition to the North Pole from Resolute in Northern Canada this Friday (27th February). This 1,000 kilometre scientific survey to measure the thickness of the Arctic sea ice will provide scientists with critical data. It ....More...

Polar Ice Thickness Survey Ready To Go Three polar explorers are undergoing a rigorous programme of final drills and tests in northern Canada as the countdown to a major scientific survey begins. Their mission is to capture accurate measurements of the thickness of the Arctic Ocean sea ice. ....More...

Swatch TTR and Protect Our Winters (POW) have developed a long-term partnership to raise the level of environmental responsibility at all TTR events amongst spectators, riders and resorts. Take a second to consider the following facts: 47 ski resorts in the Alps did not open in 2006 due to .... More...

Ski businesses and resorts are being urged to become greener and more cost efficient with the help of a new campaign. The new online guide www.makesnowsportsgreener.com is central to the campaign and uses film clips, top tips and practical step-by-step guidelines to show how sustainable practices ....More...