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Arapahoe Basin, Copper Mountain take home ski industry sustainability grants

Summit County’s Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Copper Mountain Resort were named two of this year’s four recipients for the National Ski Areas Association’s Sustainable Slopes Grant Program, the national ski industry trade association announced earlier this week.

The program was established in 2009 to support ski resort sustainability projects and has now awarded approaching $500,000 in grants, between $124,000 in cash and $360,000 in in-kind donations. Crested Butte Mountain Resort and Telluride Ski Resort are the only other Colorado ski areas to previously receive the honor.

Copper Mountain will receive five high-efficiency snowmaking guns from Massachusetts-based HKD Snowmakers, a total value of $23,000. Low-energy snowmaking equipment saves power, decreases compressed air consumption and lessens a ski area’s carbon footprint. The upgrade allows Copper to kickstart a deeper investment in efficiencies and reach emissions reduction goals.



Arapahoe Basin receives the benefit of sustainability staffing consulting services from the Brendle Group. The in-kind gift is valued at $5,000 and will help the ski area assess the intersection of human resources and sustainability to fulfill a pledge of reducing emissions by 3 percent under 2008-09 season levels by 2019-20. Doing so will also allow A-Basin to reap economic benefits by improving employee productivity and retention rates.

For more information on NSAA’s Sustainable Slopes Grant program, or to learn more about other ski area environmental initiatives and projects, visit nsaa.org and click the Environment tab.


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