Patagonia: “We’re In Business To Save Our Home Planet” A giant in the world of outdoor clothing, Patagonia is known for producing expensive but high-quality products that adventurers can count on to support them, no matter the conditions. But despite technically being a clothing company, Patagonia’s mission is centered purely on activism and environmental preservation, saying “We’re in business to save our home planet”. But they don’t just talk […] Industry News Lucy Ferneyhough | March 13, 2020 1 Comment
New Law: Tobacco Banned at California Beaches With the start of a new decade California is placing several new laws into effect, one of which bans tobacco products at beaches. Senate Bill 8 went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020 banning cigarettes, cigars, or other tobacco products at all of California’s beaches. Cigarettes are one of the most commonly littered items on California’s beaches, especially around Lake […] SnowBrains | January 3, 2020 1 Comment
Sustainability And Holiday Destinations: The Zermatt Case Sustainability is, without a doubt, a topic that has gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of decades. Nowadays people care about things like the carbon print they leave, the source where the energy they use is coming from, and how are the soil, the forests, and the wildlife impacted by the products they are consuming. These concerns […] Brains Micho | December 6, 2019 2 Comments
Snowmobiling Boom And How To Keep It Low Impact We all love winter sports, or at least most of them, and nowadays there are more and more people starting to love them as well. One of those sports is snowmobiling. Sleds are undeniably growing on popularity year after year. In fact, sales of new snowmobiles have risen by 6.6 percent worldwide in the 2019 season. Last season, 55,025 new […] Industry News Micho | November 29, 2019 0 Comments
A Look Inside “Green Skiing” As skiers and riders, we have a privilege that very few people on earth are able to enjoy. It IS NOT by any means a right or a need. It is a want. With many snowsports related activist groups gaining steam such as POW (Protect Our Winters), it is becoming imperative that we, as a collective industry, understand our impact […] Industry News Grant Weaver | November 29, 2019 1 Comment
California’s Current Reservoir and Water Conditions Are Above Average Most of California’s reservoirs currently hold an above average amount of water according to the Department of Water Resources. Check out the water conditions for today here. SnowBrains | October 15, 2019 0 Comments
NOAA: The Atmosphere and Arctic Sea Ice: Who’s The Dog, and Who’s The Tail? Written by Tom Di Liberto on Climate.gov In recent years, a popular debate has been occurring within the climate community. No, it’s not whether climate change is occurring and caused by humans. (It is.) Instead, it’s regarding how much of an effect, if any, the rapid warming of Earth’s frozen cake-topper we call the Arctic, and the corresponding reduction in […] Industry News SnowBrains | October 8, 2019 0 Comments
Vail Resorts Awarded 2019 Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence for its ‘Commitment to Zero Program’ Vail Resorts has been awarded the 2019 Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) for its bold environmental sustainability program, Commitment to Zero. The annual Golden Eagle Awards, which were presented at the NSAA National Convention in San Diego last week, are the highest honors given for environmental performance in the ski industry. Related: Vail […] SnowBrains | May 9, 2019 1 Comment
Ski Area Salting Practices Aren’t Harming the Environment Yet If you’ve ever gone spring or summer skiing you’ve probably skied on salted snow. Ski areas often apply salt to their runs and park features in the late season to firm up slush, making it less sticky and hold its form better. But as thousands of pounds of salt are spread on mountains across the country, environmentalists start to take note, […] Brains Tanner Blake | December 14, 2018 0 Comments
A Biogas Digester Could Solve Everest’s Growing Poop Problem Mount Everest has a poop problem. The 1,200 people that try to climb the world’s highest peak every year make a lot of it and the poop fairy doesn’t like the cold. Right now, Sherpa’s have taken it upon themselves to haul out the mess by hand – roughly 28,000 pounds of it this year. Gross. Gorak Shep, a frozen lakebed […] Climbing Mike Lavery | August 11, 2018 0 Comments
The Hardships of Making Snow | Cost, Reliance, & Environmental Impacts According to POW (Protect Our Winters) about 88% of ski resorts in the United States rely on snowmaking each season. Resorts will make snow to accumulate a base to open earlier, stay open later, or compensate to build features like halfpipes for competitions. Some resorts, like those in the Mid-Atlantic region, rely on snowmaking to have a season at all. […] Helena Guglielmino | November 3, 2017 4 Comments
U.C. Davis Launches Underwater Drone In Lake Tahoe Two weeks ago, Scientists from U.C. Davis released an underwater autonomous vehicle into Lake Tahoe. The robot will collect data from the lake for a few weeks up to two months. It looks just like a glider and works by adjusting its buoyancy to move freely through the lake. The drone will dive up to 150 feet and continuously measure […] Jake Rubnitz | August 16, 2017 0 Comments
Is The Future Of Skiing Dry? As summer settles in, your favorite pow runs turn into mountain bike trails, and even the latest closing dates begin to pass, what is a poor skier to do? Sure you could hike, bike, or rollerblade but nothing beats the feeling of your planks beneath your feet. Insert: dry slope skiing. A dry slope consists of a snowless mountain covered […] Industry News Lindsay Hayden | August 10, 2017 1 Comment
Record Breaking Rainfall Provides Significant Improvement for California Reservoirs Record breaking precipitation has brought some much needed relief to many of California’s reservoirs. After enduring six years of drought, California is experiencing one of the rainiest seasons on record. A beneficiary of all this rainfall are the state’s water reservoirs. California’s fifth largest reservoir, the San Luis Reservoir, shown in the photo above, provides storage to urban areas […] Robin Azer | January 27, 2017 0 Comments
Patagonia Raises $10 Million For Environment On Black Friday The outdoor outfitter Patagonia has announced record breaking Black Friday sales to the tune of $10 million, with 100% of total revenue going to the environment. This exceed expectations by 500%. Customers were aware that the cost of the items they purchased would be donated, and have evidently expressed support for such a motion. Here is the official release from Patagonia: Last week, […] Sergei Poljak | November 29, 2016 0 Comments
Three Groups Making an Impact – Sustaining Skiing, Saving the Snow This past election season went off the rails, with environmental issues taking a backseat to email scandals and locker room talk. That, along with other hurdles, has the Federal Government struggling to make “going green”a reality. Fortunately, some stalwart ski enthusiasts are holding it down, eye on the bigger picture, doing their part to help the environment. They like what […] Robin Azer | November 8, 2016 2 Comments
Patagonia’s Betting On Beer to Solve Climate Change: Long Root Ale Patagonia is on a mission to change agricultural and food practices around the world, one cold brew at a time. Patagonia’s Long Root Ale is the company’s latest product to roll out of their sustainably sourced food and beverages division, Patagonia Provisions. Released on October 3, in association with Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland, Oregon, it is only available on the […] Robin Azer | October 13, 2016 1 Comment
VIDEO: Is Our Thirst For Adventure Threatening Our Environment? | “The Big Picture” Whistler Blackcomb has been a leader in the ski industry when it comes to environmental conscientiousness. Their new four part video series explores the big questions regarding the environment and the ski industry’s impact along with other major catalysts revolving around the great outdoors. The environment is changing and it is ever apparent in the ski industry. The number of […] Dylan Cautela | September 29, 2016 0 Comments
Division of Air Quality: “Toxic Air” Detected in Salt Lake City, UT & Wasatch Front A study was recently conducted by scientists at Utah’s Division of Air quality (DAQ) on a large number of substances that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies as “hazardous air pollutants.” The study took samples from three major sites in order to determine the population’s risk for cancer induced by air pollution. Of 86 substances tested, four were found at particularly […] Dylan Cautela | September 8, 2016 1 Comment
NASA: Glacier National Park Could Lose All Its Glaciers By 2030 Glacier National Park, MT’s glaciers are melting away. There were once 150 glaciers in the park. Now, there are only 25. “This area is warming at 2 to 3 times the rate of the global average rise in air temperatures.” – Dan Fagre, a USGS research ecologist, who has been studying climate change in the park for more than 20 years According to a […] Industry News Chris Wallner | June 17, 2016 1 Comment
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