Industry News
Vail Resorts is honored to receive two awards from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA): the Golden Eagle Climate Change Impact Award in sustainability and Best Social Media Campaign by Crotched Mountain in the marketing category. The awards were announced at the 2023 NSAA National Convention and Tradeshow in Savannah, Georgia. Previously, Vail Resorts received the Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence in 2019 for its bold environmental sustainability program, Commitment to Zero.
Below is a summary of each award win.
The Golden Eagle Climate Change Impact Award, Vail Resorts: Established in 1993, the Golden Eagle Awards for Environmental Excellence are the highest honors bestowed on a resort for environmental performance. Recognizing powerful initiatives that result in impactful climate change solutions, Vail Resorts received the Golden Eagle Climate Change Impact award for achieving 100% renewable electricity in North America and 96% enterprise-wide.
Reaching this milestone in renewable electricity is part of our Commitment to Zero – our bold goal to achieve a zero net operating footprint by 2030 through zero net emissions, zero waste to landfill, and zero net operating impact on forests and habitats. In FY 2022, we also surpassed our 2025 interim goal of 50% progress toward zero net emissions. We achieved this through projects like the Plum Creek Wind Project and by participating in local renewable projects on the grids where we operate.
Our progress is made possible, in part, by the $3.6 million we invested last year in energy efficiency projects across our resorts to reduce onsite emissions. While there is still work to be done, this achievement means we are ahead of schedule to meet our emissions and energy goals. We remain on track to meet our goals in waste and forest impact. Read the details in our most recent progress report.
The progress we’ve made is all thanks to our team – who care deeply about taking care of the planet and the mountain communities where we live, work, and play.
Best Use of Social Media, Crotched Mountain: The NSAA Marketing Awards are presented annually to ski resorts for successful campaigns to help grow the sport. Vail Resorts’ Crotched Mountain in New Hampshire won the Best Use of Social Media award for the resort’s ‘The More You Snow’ video series, which embraces Vail Resorts’ core value of Have Fun.
Crotched Mountain, located in the town of Bennington, New Hampshire, is known for its community spirit – where locals, college students, and regional skiers and riders can play after work or school and enjoy the resort’s well-known night ski and ride events.
Through a collaborative effort across various resort teams at Crotched Mountain, the ‘The More You Snow’ campaign was created to educate the public on resort operations and help manage expectations around the guest experience. The campaign leaned into the space theme, complete with neon lights, smoke machines, and local favorite, Crotched Parks manager Trevor.
This campaign highlighted Crotched Mountain’s unique community and invited guests and team members to let loose and have fun while being on snow. A concerted effort in building community trust, ‘The More You Snow’ worked to foster meaningful connections between guests and team members.
Watch the videos on the Crotched Mountain Instagram account.
In addition to the winners above, we also recognize and congratulate the hardworking teams across Vail Resorts who were named finalists in the sustainability, safety, and marketing award categories:
- Hero of Sustainability Finalist: Chris Kennelly, Stowe Mountain Resort
- Best Overall Safety Program Finalist: Keystone Resort
- Best Employee Safety Program Finalist: Vail Mountain
- Safety Champion Finalists: Chris North of Breckenridge Ski Resort, Jonathan Cernanec of Keystone Resort, Chrissie Oken of Vail Mountain
- Best Use of Social Media Finalist: Stevens Pass
