Photo By: Thaddeus Roan
In 2018 when you see the word “Vail” in headlines, it’s often a story about the company acquiring another resort or new partnerships on the Epic pass that allow for ski days at yet another additional mountain. There are certainly arguments for and against the Epic pass, but the Summit Daily is reporting some news that we can all agree is positive.
It’s official: Vail is the first resort in the United States — and first mountain resort in the world — to achieve certification as a “sustainable destination.”
This, however, isn’t just something that Vail Resorts as a company achieved on its own. It’s taken everyone in the Vail community to make a commitment to sustainability.
Town of Vail programs including the town’s disposable bag ban, its recycling mandates and the Restore the Gore effort to improve water quality in Gore Creek also played a large role… The certification effort also included looking closely at housing, transportation, wildlife preservation and other issues, as well as sustainability efforts by other partners.
At the time of this writing, Vail Resorts was valued at $12.5 billion. There is still plenty of room for improvement across the company, but it’s good to see one of the leaders in the ski industry set an example that other resorts and towns can push for.
Make no mistake, they could have easily saved their investors a few bucks today without the policies they’ve introduced for sustainability. However, they’ve recognized that changes need to be made now so that the ski industry still exists for our children and grandchildren.
*If only Utah could have seen that with Outdoor Retailer last year…
Find the entire Summit Daily article here: Vail the world’s first mountain resort certified as a ‘sustainable’ destination