Forbidden Fruit: Hanging out high above Telluride on the “illegal” iron road. Photo: Peter Bronski

“Let me give you some advice,” the concierge at my hotel warns. “Be careful how you talk about it.” He’s referring to Telluride’s via ferrata, an “iron way” in the mountains, similar to the World-War-I-era routes found in Italy’s Dolomites. Officially, the clandestine Telluride route was installed illegally on public land. Unofficially, the U.S. Forest Service looks the other way.

Every local climber I talk to not only knows about it, but has climbed it. And every local wants to keep its specific location under wraps. Luckily, through a friend, I get connected with some folks who agree to show me the way.

We park below the Idarado Mine, walk a stretch along the road, then slip behind a metal rockfall fence. We switchback up an overgrown, disused mining road, and after a while, once high in a particular drainage, turn off onto a faint blink-and-you’ll-miss-it climber’s trail. The trail weaves through the trees, around a buttress of rock, and then we’re there, perched on the edge of a precipice. A steel cable, bolted to the rock face, leads off along a narrow ledge. Time to harness up.

For several hours we traverse, sometimes along narrow ledges protected by steel cables, sometimes clinging to metal ladder rungs in places where the ledges peter out, leaving nothing but sheer vertical walls. Then we come to the money pitch, which some call the Main Event. Hundreds of feet in the air, the route traverses an overhanging rock face on metal ladder rungs. With Telluride far below and the soaring San Juans above, the airy perch has plenty of exhilarating exposure.

Soon, the crux is behind us, and we come upon a register for the Krogerata, as the route is now known. It is so named for Chuck Kroger, who discretely built this gem years ago. The names entered in the register are mostly locals… except for one: Timmy O’Neill, who I assume is the professional rock climber from Boulder.

We continue on, ending our trip on a hairpin turn on the Jeep road above Bridal Veil Falls. And, to quote Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

Check out more via ferrata photos here.

Euro Styling L’Eroica is a Colorado cycling cult classic in the making.

L’Eroica, or the heroic, began as a long distance bike tour in Italy in the late 1800’s. By the early 1900’s, L’Eroica tours were held all over Europe and even in the U.S. In the spirit of vintage bicycles, wool jerseys and 100+ mile courses, Chris Brown, owner of Grand Junction’s Brown Cycles decided to resurrect the event. In May, a handful of locals showed up to ride 110 miles from Grand Junction to Glenwood Springs. EO photographer Devon Balet captured the underground event, complete with all its century-old charm and challenges.

Bar on Wheels

Next time you are in the mood for Critical Mass why not go for a ride with 16 of your closest friends … on the same bike … with a built-in bar? Meet MyHandleBar a 16-seat cruiser ready for the partying streets of downtown Fort Collins and Boulder. The bike originated in the Netherlands, but the company was started by Colorado native Theresa Preston. We loaded it up with EO contributors and somehow avoided law enforcement.

25

The number of scenic and historic byways in the state of Colorado that you can bag by bike. Create and track your own Bike the Byways checklist here.

Coloradostan

Between raising her six-year-old daughter and running Mountain2Mountain, a non profit which works to improve opportunities for girls and women in Afghanistan, Shannon Galpin rides her bike every chance she gets. In 2009, the Breckenridge resident became the first woman to mountain bike in Afghanistan, a place where women aren’t permitted to cycle. EO readers can join Galpin in celebrating her groundbreaking ride, which is now an annual event, at the Panjshir Tour (named after the Afghan province Galpin first rode), a celebration ride in Denver at Bear Creek State Park on October 15th. Post-ride, enjoy video footage from Galpin’s rides in Afghanistan, food and beer. Find out more: panjshirtour.org

Notes from on High What exactly happens to all those summit logs?

One of the tiny thrills when climbing Colorado’s mountains is cementing your signature in summit logbooks. Open the familiar gray and white PVC container, unfurl the weathered notepad, sign in, stuff the notepad back inside . . . and then what? Who exactly keeps track of your mountainous immortality? How did the books get there in the first place? And where do they end up?

It’s our biggest Trail Mix yet! 16 tracks of rootsy goodness! Check out brand new tracks from Sarah Jarosz, Ha Ha Tonka, Cameron McGill & What Army, Colin Hay, Milk Drive, Garage A Trois, and many more. Throw them on your iPod and go outside and play. And, when you come back inside, take the time to seek out and buy at least one disc from one of these artists – support them so they continue to support Trail Mix!

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***Click here to download the May edition of Trail Mix to your computer.***

This month’s Trail Mix, in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, is brought to you by Compass Records, the record label with the largest catalog of Irish music in North America. Check out brand new tunes from T with the Maggies, who hail from the land of green fields, Canada’s Dala, new bluegrass from The Gibson Brothers, and tracks from guitar wizard Russ Barenberg and Boston’s own Joe Derrane. And, as always, if you like it, surf over to  www.compassrecords.com and buy it!

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***Click here to download the March edition of Trail Mix to your computer.***

Click here to open a new window to listen while you browse elevationoutdoors.com.

Click the red arrow to start listening to the playlist. Use the blue arrows to skip tracks.

[audio:http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/SeafoamTumbles.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/EleanorRigby.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/7sAnd9s.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/TellMeTruly.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/LittleFox.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/ItCameFromYou.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/1442.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/ChampionOfTheWorld.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/BobbyBaby.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/november/Searchin.mp3,|titles=Seafoam Tumbles, Eleanor Rigby, 7s and 9s, Tell Me Truly, Little Fox, It Came From You, 14:42, Champion of the World, Bobby Baby, Searchin,|artists=Dangermuffin, Soulive, Thrift Store Cowboys, Heidi Talbot, Justin Jones, Marco Benevento, Utah Green, Peter Cooper, Lera Lynn, Roots of Creation]

Right-Click the links below to download these tracks:

Seafoam Tumbles – Dangermuffin

Eleanor Rigby (Cover) – Soulive

7’s and 9’s – Thrift Store Cowboys

Tell Me Truly – Heidi Talbot

Little Fox – Justin Jones

It Came From You – Marco Benevento

14:42 – Utah Green

Champion of the World – Peter Cooper

Bobby, Baby – Lera Lynn

Searchin’ – Roots of Creation

Click here to open a new window to listen while you browse ElevationOutdoors.com.

Click the red arrow to start listening to the playlist. Use the blue arrows to skip tracks.

[audio:http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/PutMeBack.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/SadSmile.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/StayHigh.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/BigEyedRabbit.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/Lions.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/JacobsVision.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/JailerJailer.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/Losers.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/PartyWithGirls.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/BringYourClothesBackHome.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/CaravanDays.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/DannysDance.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/ThePieSong.mp3,http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/trailmix/audio/september/SouthWind.mp3|titles=Put Me Back, Sad Smile, Stay High, Big Eyed Rabbit, Lions, Jacob's Vision, Jailer Jailer, Losers, Party With Girls, Bring Your Clothes Back Home, Caravan Days, Danny's Dance, The Pie Song, South Wind,|artists=Shannon Whitworth, Bobby Bare Jr., Efren, The Whiskey Bent Valley Boys, Samantha Crain, Dave Eggar, Peter Rowan, Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore, The Two Man Gentleman Band, The John Hartford String Band, Noah Earle, Special Consensus, O Mello Cello Tree, Kitara]

Right-Click the links below to download these tracks:

Put Me Back – Shannon Whitworth

Sad Smile – Bobby Bare Jr.

Stay High -Efren

Big Eyed Rabbit – The Whiskey Bent Valley Boys

Lions – Samantha Crain

Jacob’s Vision – Dave Eggar

Jailer Jailer – Peter Rowen

Losers – Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore

Party With Girls – The Two Man Gentleman Band

Bring Your Clothes Back Home – The John Hartford String Band

Caravan Days – Noah Earle

Danny’s Dance – Special Consensus

The Pie Song – O Mello Cello Tree

South Wind – Kitara

At an ultimate Frisbee tournament last August, I remembered that the Broncos had played a preseason game the previous night and I casually asked if anyone knew the score.

The first person to pipe up was a particularly hairy little fellow with a nose ring who replied, “Who cares?”

Which certainly wasn’t the answer I was looking for. And which left me a little stunned at the hostility, so that all I could mutter in response was, “Me, dude.”

But what I thought was, “You little gerbil. I’d like to see you catch a quick flick across the middle and just one time find a 235- pound linebacker named Bubba waiting to meet you there.” Wham-O!

Ultimate always makes me think about football, with the end zones and the chance to play quarterback from the handler posi- tion, or to go long for a big spinning plastic bomb like running out the post pattern for the last minute catch to win the Super Bowl. And the crowd goes wild!

Everybody loves the deep post (I think the Broncos should run it about 1,000 times more this season), because it gains big yards and because everybody loves a long throw down the center of the field. And because we all feel like heroes when we make that grab—Frisbee or football.

Which makes me wonder—how can you play ultimate and not like to watch pro or college football? Whether it’s for inspiration, entertainment, or just as an excuse for drinking beer? Or because when you see that deep throw to the corner of the end zone and the receiver and the defender racing down the sidelines looking over their shoulders to make the play, you love to pretend you’re those dudes.

And who the hell in Colorado doesn’t want to know the Broncos score?

Being an outdoor sports participant, and a rabid pro sports fan, is in the DNA of anyone living in Colorado, from Trinidad to South Park, Aspen to Pueblo. That summit-to-stadium existence provides the very essence of the good life in Elwayville—climbing a 14er in the morning and catching the Rockies game in the afternoon, mountain biking ‘til two through gold September aspens then watching the Donkeys on TV, or tuning your boards while listening to the Nuggets on the radio.

The perfect mix of outdoor lifestyle and pro sports stoke is why so many Front Range towns are annual shoo-ins for top ranking among America’s most aerobically-enhanced cities. It’s why a website called Calorielab.com ranks the entire state of Colorado fittest of the 50 states, and why Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs regularly make the likes of Forbes’ and Men’s Health magazine’s most healthy towns.

Which, by sheer averages suggests that Colorado has the largest population of pro sports fans that can actually run from end zone to end zone. And by sheer pad-to-peak-proximity, that we can most likely outshred, outhike or out-pedal any other city with a pro football and hockey team to root for.

That Mile-High marker is what sets us apart. And makes us proud. It’s the reason even the pros who come here get gassed. The constant story about how the visiting team will have to deal with Denver’s thin air, and why our Colorado teams are capable of so many late game heroics. It’s why I remember when one of my favorite cousins had a mountain wedding in June of 2001 on the same day that the Colorado Avalanche met the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The groom was from Vermont, which meant that in addition to all of the Colorado fans there were also plenty of New England boys cheering for Boston Bruins-to-Avs transplant, the legendary defensemen Ray Bourque.

And after a beautiful blue sky ceremony in a sunlit field, all the climbers, cowboys, ski bums and stock brokers slipped inside to hunt out TVs in a loft and next door in a sports shop, leaving the bride’s reception a ghost town until the final score: 3-1 in favor of the Avalanche.

At which point, the radiant Libby stepped to the microphone and said, “I’d like to congratulate the Colorado Avalanche for winning the Stanley Cup, and announce that I am going to have the rest of my wedding now.”

So we cheered and spilled back out into the sunset, celebrating all of the little histories of a single day—a day that we would remember beyond so many others—all golden and happy in the warm mountain air as we danced.

It was one of life’s little landmarks, at the intersection of self and sport. It is one of those stories that explains why I know most of my friends better through the teams they root for than I do by who they married, or what they do for work.

The Gerbil Boy was a rocket on the field, quickly out-running defenders and capable of great flying squirrel layouts for the deep disc. He easily scored half of his team’s points, and stopped just as many of our attempts. And as much as I regretted not seeing him laid out by a deep safety hit, I regretted even more seeing him go head over heels for a grab in that little dress.

Which may be the biggest difference between pro sports and alternative sports… the pants. •

You can read more of Peter Kray’s writing, including excerpts of his upcoming novel, The God of Skiing, at

shredwhiteandblue.com.

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In the haze at the end of a day spent touring the Fritschi binding factory, skinning up and skiing down a small peak called the Gehrihorn and being treated to a full Swiss fondue, we were in a bar in Thun listening to a band singing “Surfing Switzerland” (to the tune of the Beach Boys). The song would become a rallying cry for the rest of our trip, since Europe was in the midst of its best winter in a decade and we were armed with an array of next season’s fat, freeriding Black Diamond skis. And, oh, was the Swiss surf up.

Black Diamond invited us to Switzerland to test its latest skis and get a feel for its European business. While BD is a core brand for hard-charging, deep-snow loving addicts here in the states, that demographic is slightly different in piste-happy Europe. Here, BD, which is well respected as a climbing company, has to compete against big, traditional, ski brands when it comes to capturing the hearts and minds of European freeriders. To compete, the company focuses on product performance-and boy did next season’s crop perform when we put them to the test in the heart of Europe.

I put in one day each on four different skis in varying conditions. It wasn’t exactly enough to get a full feel for each set of boards, but enough to know what I liked and have a sense for what conditions were best for that ski. I wore Black Diamond’s Custom boot (which I had heard was super stiff, but found to be quite pliable and light). We were also lucky enough to have Black Diamond’s ski product manager and designer Thomas Laakso on the trip. He was able to both educate me on the ins and outs of ski design (he decided he was going to be a ski designer in 1st grade and is living the dream now after work as a carbon fiber engineer and a stint at The North Face) and wow us with his skills on the mountain.

Here’s my quick take on the skis:

Havoc

Havoc Titanium

This was a solid choice for our day touring on the Gehrihorn, which is the small, prominent peak you can see from the parking lot of the Fritschi factory. BD softened up the Havoc for 09/10 to make it a bit more versatile, which was a good thing considering the conditions on the Gehrihorn. Mounted with a very effective and easy-to-use BD O1 binding, it proved ideal for skinning. (Our guide Manuel insisted we skin the “Swiss” way, which meant a slow-but-steady pace and big, long switchbacks.) Although we hit a few decent pockets of soft snow most of the ski down was breakable crust-tough stuff on any skis and almost impossible to telemark without taking a header (which I did). That said, the Havoc, which measures a thin-by-today’s-standards 123-88-115 in a 185cm ski, inspired confidence underfoot (though I did yearn for a big ski underfoot for more stability). It powered out crisp alpine turns and gave me a fighting chance in difficult conditions. It’s a classic board that would be a nice single-quiver board for day-to-day skiing and some backcountry up at Loveland and A-Basin.

Justice

Justice Lava

Our best day of skiing in Switzeralnd began with four train rides, starting at 6 a.m. in Thun, with transfers in Bern, Zurich and Landquart. By eleven, we were in Davos. Boots on, packs packed, lunch in a paper bag from a local bakery and on the bus to Pischa, which is classified as a “freeride” area since there is no grooming here. By noon, we were headed up the tram, down to a T-bar and off the backside of the resort for one epic, steep-and-deep descent and a hitchhike back into Davos. My ski du jour was the brand-new, fat Justice (140-115-125 in a 185 with only a very slight camber), which BD bills as a more user friendly version of its big, bad Megawatt. The ski was easy to like-it arced big turns and floated effortlessly down a short chute and into 1,500-foot of wide-open European sweet stuff. I even hopped off a small rock and got tossed into the back seat on landing. I was quite ready to eat it, but the skis kept me up like a Weeble so that I could retain my composure and pop back up. Later in the day, we skied another run out-of-bounds at Pischa in sticky, sun-affected snow and the Justice was big enough to smash through the slop yet also quick underfoot. This is going to be one popular ski. Slightly soft. Yearning to run in the untracked but capable enough in bounds, though you would not want it on a day without at least some fresh stuff and need to get used to the slide-y turn feel of a ski with very little camber. $729

Megawatt

Megawatt Ocean

Ah, but my heart belongs to the Megawatt. The 09/10 version is huge at 147-120-126 in a 178 cm ski (it also comes in an even wider 188). It’s rockered in the tip with zero camber. But it also has some sidecut underneath so that it’s not inept on piste. Don’t be scared off by those meaty dimensions-it’s a smooth ride in powder. I skied the Megs on teles and didn’t find it too big at all. In fact, the ski makes telemarking deep stuff easier since your usually problematic back ski floats pretty much by itself, meaning you can concentrate on the turn instead of trying to keep the tip up in the back ski. On day three, we hit another big, out-the-gates line at Rinerhorn and the Meagawatt was the perfect tool for the wide-pen Alpine terrain. I weighted and unweighted, jumping from from turn to turn with ease. Later, when we skied a nasty, sloppy tree run off Rinerhorn, the big skis turned admirably in tight, wretched conditions. This is the ski for big, deep days, cat/heli trips, Utah and Alaska. $825

Verdict

Verdict

The Verdict has received a ton of praise-for good reason. It’s one versatile, stable ski. The 09 version, which measures 131-100-118 in a 180cm ski, incorporates an Internal Wall Core technology with “snappy” birch to give it a bit more sensitivity. For our final ski day in Davos we stayed in area, since warm weather was rapidly messing with conditions in the backcountry. From the top of Parsenn, we ventured off piste into what BD’s Dan Caruso called “the worst conditions he skied all year”-breakable crust and sun-wrecked mush. It didn’t feel all that bad with the Verdict, which offered enough of a platform and enough muscle to stay as stable as I could keep them on the crust and hold an edge on refrozen junk. From there, we skied like European tourists, absolutely bombing the groomers and having a blast doing it. The Verdict held a nice edge (I might even detune it a tad) and although it took me a few runs to get used to BD’s O2 binding (which does not need to be bullied, but instead lets the ski do the work) in-area, when it clicked it felt powerful to simply let the ski do its thing. This is a versatile ski that can do anything from running soft bumps and tight tree lines to tackling variable conditions in the untracked.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think about the skis (if you have been lucky enough to get on them).

Rossignol Classic CX80

Best For: Day-to-day alpine at the resort

The Word: For those of us who cut our teeth in the days before shaped skis, the Classic just feels right underfoot—sans the effort of turning those old boards. That’s because Rossi used an old-school wood-core and vertical-sidewall construction in conjunction with contemporary deep sidecut (the skis’s dimensions run at 124/80/112). What that translates into is a do-it-all ski that edges solid on hardpack, manages bumps, can float in powder and runs through crud.

$1,430 (with TPI2 Axial 2 140 Ti bindings); rossignol.com

———-

Movement Baggy

Best For: Backcountry booting, big mountain

The Word: Designed for backcountry booters and freestyle flash, the Baggy has enough sidecut at 132/102/122 and stability underfoot to hold its own in-area on soft days as well as eat up deep powder. The thing that stood out to us the most was the light wood core, which made it both quick and also a surprisingly nice ski for skinning.

$750; movementskis.com

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K2 Apache Coomba

Best For: Big-mountain alpine or AT in the backcountry or in-area

The Word: At 135/102/121, the Coomba is not exactly a fat ski by today’s standards, but it is one versatile big-mountain gun—it howls through deep powder and stomps crud. And it’s just thin enough underfoot and shaped to handle those powder/packed powder resort days. Plus, the legendary Doug Coombs, who died in 2006 in a fall in La Grave, helped design the ski and K2 donates a percentage of sales to his wife and son.

$800; k2skis.com

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Karhu Storm BC

Best For: Backcountry telemarkers

The Word: Most of the discussion on this ski has centered around the “sustainable” Greenlight Paulownia and maple core, which is made from wood that’s responsibly grown and harvested. There should be more talk about just how well it floats in the backcountry in everything from bottomless fluff to sloppy slush. At 128/96/117, there’s enough sidecut to snap quick turns but the tip’s big enough to let them run.

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$550; karhu.com

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BOARDS

Burton Eco Nico

Best For: Conscientious all-mountain riding

Designed by pro Nicolas Müller, the Eco Nico is a sustainable version of Burton’s Custom built with recycled materials. It’s also a versatile, stable ride that’s just as credible when it comes to performance.

$630; burton.com

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Lib Tech T.Rice MTX

Best For: Park and pipe; all-mountain riding

The ecologially minded mural on the T.Rice is the product of artist Mike Parillo and Travs Rice spending a month riding and 10 days fasting in New Zealand. The board itself jumps from park-and-pipe to all-mountain riding thanks to stable edging and a snappy alloy wood core.

$489; lib-tech.com

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Rome SDS Notch 1985

Best For: Powder

This directional twin-tip features reverse camber—like a surfboard— making it float like a magic carpet in untracked snow. With a carbon laminate and bamboo stringers in nose and tail, it’s designed to shed pow even when you’re riding fakie—a nice, common-sense touch in a powder board.

$550; romesnowboards.com

———-

BOOTS

Telemarking: Black Diamond Push

The key to the Push is a versatile flex—it’s stiff enough to handle laying out and bombing like a brute on groomers yet it provides enough feel for subtle ups and downs in the untracked. The Boa-adjustable liner was easy to deal with and even easier to micro-adjust during the day.

$650; bdel.com

———-

Alpine/AT: Scarpa Typhoon

Built with four buckles and a power strap, the Typhon allows easy access to walk mode for a quick change from skiing to touring. But the truly remarkable thing about this boot is the DIN-standard rubberized sole that takes both Alpine and AT bindings.

$700; scarpa.com

———-

Snowboarding: ThirtyTwo Prime

The Prime made us like the feel of our snowboard boots again. That’s because it comes with a customizable lacing system incorporating a forefront cage that’s easy to tighten. That makes for a versatile boot that’s stiff, responsive and extremely comfortable.

$349; thirtytwo.com

Luke Cartin’s do-good eco-exuberance is palpable as he extols the virtues of Vail Resorts’ sustainability plan, from its purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) to the hydro power studies it’s now conducting on its mountain streams. As the environmental manager of Vail Resorts’ five popular mountains, Cartin wields influence at an important time in snowsports history—a time when resorts across the country are breaking new trail on the path to sustainability.

“The green efforts being made in Colorado are amongst the most aggressive in the ski industry,” says Troy Hawks, communications manager for the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), which issues a Sustainable Slopes report on resort sustainability initiatives each year.
The big guys aren’t the only Colorado ski resorts walking the walk. Even fledgling ski areas like Silverton Mountain are looking to lessen their impacts. “Everything we have here is recycled or reused and those items would have ended up in a landfill,” says Silverton owner Aaron Brill. According to Colorado Ski Country USA, the combined environmental initiatives of its 22 member resorts translate to more than 3,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide being offset per year.

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Despite its jet-set clientele of second-home-owning glitterati, The Aspen Skiing Company has managed to become a beacon of green-ness in a cluttered sea of sustainability claims. At the helm is Aspen Skiing Company’s executive director of sustainability, Auden Schendler, who has a knack for making solid eco-conscious decisions while also shaking things up at the industry level.

For example, Vail offsets 100 percent of its five resorts’ electricity use (making it the largest buyer of certified wind power in the travel and leisure industry)—an act, it says, that keeps 211 million pounds of CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere every year. That’s the equivalent of taking 18,000 cars off the road every year or planting 27,000 acres of trees. But Aspen has chosen to veer away from offsets at Schendler’s recent urging.

“We stopped buying RECs because we didn’t feel they were legit,” explains Schendler, who originally had urged his employers to dive into RECs in 2006. “We are focusing on developing renewable energy in the ground with concrete.”

Schendler points to the micro-hydroelectric system Aspen installed on Snowmass Mountain, the three wind turbines it’s considering and the 147-kilowatt solar array it funded in neighboring Carbondale, which is the largest of its kind in Western Colorado. Aspen Skiing Company has also developed the ski industry’s first climate policy by committing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from 2000 levels by 10 percent by 2012 and 25 percent by 2020.

Green or Greed?
While all of that sounds positive, the bottom line is that ski areas, by their nature, take a heavy toll on the planet and local ecosystems. There’s the impact to the local environment, the intense use of resources such as water for snowmaking, and skiers’ CO2-boosting travel to resorts. In fact, a 2007 study showed that 62 percent of visitors to Colorado resorts (approximately 7,748,545 people) were from out of the state or out of the country.

While many resort efforts are valiant, how can the public be sure they’re not greenwashing? Ski resorts’ toughest eco-barometer may well be Durango-based Colorado Wild, an environmental group that runs the Ski Area Citizen’s Coalition. Each fall, the nonprofit group issues the Ski Area Environmental Scorecard, which rates the environmental performance of ski resorts across the West and parts of Canada on a scale of zero to 100. The 2008 top performer? Aspen Mountain. The lowest scorer? Copper Mountain Ski Resort.

“The biggest problem with ski areas and what makes them not sustainable is that many look to expand with real estate and more ski terrain,” says Hunter Sykes, coordinator of the Scorecard and the co-director of Resorting to Madness, a documentary flick on the impacts of the modern ski resort industry. He argues that there has been little growth overall in skier visits in the last few years and that these expansions are simply an effort to lure skiers from other mountains. “Ski areas say to be successful they have to expand,” says Sykes, “but that’s a ridiculous argument in my view. There aren’t any more skiers out there to bring to your mountain.”

The big question is, for all their efforts, from energy reduction and recycling to carbon offsets and LEED-certified green building, can these behemoth travel-dependent businesses really be run sustainably?

“How do you define green and sustainable?” asks NSAA’s Hawks. “In the ski industry we feel good because we are leading these efforts and hopefully we’re setting an example for other businesses.”