Featured Article
Our friend Jamie Schectman, CEO of the Mountain Riders Alliance (MRA), has been causing a green stir in the ski industry for a few years now. He wants to create sustainable, community owned, green ski resorts that cater to both backcountry and recreational skiers. No one has ever tried anything like it and it sounds like a great plan, but there are some major challenges.
Jamie’s main challenge is to first create a successful green energy ski resort. He’ll have to create a model that others can follow. His first full-scale model will be Manitoba Mountain Ski Resort in Alaska. Manitoba is slated to be green and simple with 2 big rope tows that’ll take you to classic Alaska terrain. Battling the red tape, wading through the permitting process, and gathering the funding are his current obstacles. We’re confident that he’ll succeed and that his Manitoba Mountain will be a strong model for other mountain communities to follow.
“The current paradigm of corporations and their focus on box amenities, real estate, and theme park attractions will be replaced with ski areas that get back to focusing on what is important, providing uphill transportation and on-snow recreation.” – Jamie Schectman, MRA CEO
Jamie’s overall message won’t just be for small, backcountry-centric resorts. Mega resorts can follow suit, too. The technology is there for major ski resorts to start truly considering using solar, wind, micro-hydro, geothermal and/or biomass energies to fuel their resort’s energy needs.
The future of Jamie’s MRA is going to be a fascinating one as we watch wether or not ski resorts are willing to change and even more importantly: wether skiers and riders are willing to change.
Would you be more likely to visit a major resort that used green energy over one that didn’t?
***
Jamie recently wrote an article for Outside Magazine about his mission and his forecast:
“I envision many ski areas that are owned by their customers and the surrounding community. Much like the 50-mile diet and local co-ops, the concept of people pooling their assets together for a common good will be prevalent. What will precipitate that change? Many mom and pop ski areas being squeezed out. In the ‘80s, there were 800 ski areas in North America. As communities are facing closing ski areas, like June Mountain in California, Magic Mountain in Vermognt, some mountains went local. Communities want to maintain ski areas. The current ownership structure is not working.” – Jamie Schectman, MRA CEO
Read More: Outside Magazine
We are super excited to be breaking ground on a 803 solar panel project at our prototype Mountain Playground in Maine. We expect it to offset approximately 70% of our annual energy consumption.
http://www.sunjournal.com/news/oxford-hills-river-valley/2014/09/26/mt-abram-install-803-panel-solar-array/1593522
Manitoba Mountain will be a green sustainable ski AREA rather than RESORT. Resorts feature out of boot amenities…MRA mountain playgrounds are about the snow and the organic nature of the ski experience.
Yes, very true. That’s how ingrained the word resort is into my head.
sounds like a tough battle in todays economic climate of the big getting big and the small getting squeezed out. but it seems pretty much what simple skiers are looking for for. Low budget skiers for sure
I dig this. and manitoba looks sweet. if focus isn’t on stock holders and profit, there is a lot of easy fun to be had out there.
I agree with Jamie that they can be both green and community owned. Soon enough people are going to start demanding green energy operations as they watch our world deteriorate via coal and oil energies. Jamie has a head start on this and it will likely make a helluva lot of sense in about 20 years and really be a model that people will understand and seek out for ski areas.