Stories From the Trails: How Banff and Lake Louise’s Ski Hills Champion Nature-Positive Action
Banff and Lake Louise’s three ski hills, SkiBig3, are taking responsibility for protecting the environment through nature-positive initiatives and climate actions. From clean energy partnerships to year-round ecological stewardship, each resort – Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise Ski Resort, and Mt. Norquay – is committed to safeguarding the landscape that defines our community. Here are some examples of how these ski hills are taking action to protect the environment for future generations.
Snow Farming at Banff Sunshine
Delivering snow for a seven-month ski season isn’t easy, but Banff Sunshine Village has found a sustainable solution through “snow farming”, a technique that relies on Mother Nature.
At this ski resort, snow farming means building snow fences around areas of the resort to catch snow drifts by acting as artificial wind breaks. Once the snow has been collected, snow cats push the snow around other areas of the mountain to cover the ski runs.
“Because we sit on the Continental Divide, we always get snow. It’s just a matter of when we get the snow” said Al Matheson, Mountain Operations Manager. “It’s windy up above the alpine. With over 60 feet of fence sitting on a mountain, it becomes quite the structure.”
It takes a ‘village’ to ensure a successful snow season at Sunshine. The snow farming team starts with just six people in September and grows to a team of 15-17 people once the season begins. “The process starts in September without a hint of snow. We pound several thousand pieces of six-foot steel into the ground. Once the ground freezes we can tie the fence to it. It’s a meter high, and the ground has to be frozen, because if not, the wind pushes on the fence and it will come out of the ground,” said Al.
Powered by 100% Clean Energy at Mt. Norquay
Mt. Norquay is leading the charge towards nature positive tourism as the first ski resort in Canada to transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. This milestone was achieved through a partnership with Bullfrog Power – one of Canada’s trusted and leading renewable energy providers. Through this partnership, all the resort’s electricity is sourced from a blend of wind and low impact hydropower, generated by Canadian renewable energy facilities.
Wind energy harnesses natural wind patterns to produce electricity without emitting harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Hydropower harnesses falling or fast-running water to produce electricity while ensuring rivers and aquatic ecosystems are minimally disturbed.
By relying on clean and green, the resort helps to protect their corner of natural landscapes in Banff National Park.
Lake Louise Ski Resorts Commitment to Wildlife
Demonstrating a strong commitment to environmental stewardship, the Lake Louise Ski Resort has a full-time, year-round environmental team dedicated to safeguarding the resort’s natural ecosystem.
The team consists of an environmental manager, environmental supervisor, and wildlife ecologist and it plays a crucial role in inspiring and managing the resort’s sustainability efforts.
A key focus of the team’s work is protecting the wildlife that roam the ski resort, particularly safeguarding the habitat of grizzly bears. The resort takes great measures to preserve bear habitats, support wildlife movement, and maintain wildlife corridors, ensuring the local ecosystem thrives alongside ski operations. This includes minimizing the impact of summer operations by not allowing any public hiking through the Whitehorn Wildlife Corridor or offering typical ski resort summer activities such as mountain biking. The team also works to minimize human-wildlife conflicts through encouraging “group of four” hiking requirements, temporarily closing trails, and implementing bear-resistant garbage management.
Together as a destination, Banff and Lake Louise’s three ski hills not only provide a world-class skiing experience for visitors and the community, but they also set a precedent for how businesses can operate in harmony with the natural environment. Innovative snow farming, clean energy use, and wildlife conservation are just a few examples of what SkiBig3 in Banff and Lake Louise are doing.
Find out more here.
Stories from the Trails is a series sharing learning, success, and insights, from our members and partners as we journey together towards the 10-Year Vision for Tourism. This story embodies the Nature-Positive and Climate Action trail.
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