Local Legends And Carbon Goals...

by Amanda Faison
skier, ski mom, lover of slopeside cuisine

A Local's Mountain, Through and Through

Arapahoe Basin is nothing if not a community-first mountain, and loyalty runs deep. Regulars know all the lifties and parking attendants by name, not to mention the bartenders (and probably their spouses as well). On opening day, locals line up at 6 a.m. in hopes of nabbing one of the coveted glass mugs, as much for the bragging rights as the deals that come with it. And throughout the season, when skiers and riders spot Mike Nathan, head of mountain sustainability, on the slopes or in the lift line, they shout out "Recycle Michael!" This is a well-earned nod to Nathan's #SustainabilitySunday reels and posts about the mountain's practices and responsibility in combating climate change.

Keeping all this in mind, it's not a leap to understand that A Basin believes in creating change from the ground up. "Our whole thing is small projects that ladder up," says Shayna Silverman, Communications Manager for A Basin. "Our philosophy is that we are a localized ski area, and that's how we approach sustainability too. We're very grassroots, and every employee has a voice and a responsibility."

People-Powered Progress (With a Boost from the Sun)

The mountain's Green Team is one such example. This group of interested front-line employees (come one, come all!) meets regularly to discuss opportunities and concerns with Nathan and Sustainability Coordinator Helena Robinowitz. "The idea is to generate new ideas from those who are really doing the work," Silverman says. The meetings have yielded incentives for carpooling, composting, and recycling. Take, for example, the problem of limited recycling in Summit County: A Basin encourages staff to bring in their own hard-to-recycle items such as plastic berry containers, which the resort has the resources to send to the right recycling center. "Our philosophy is that change starts at the bottom," Silverman continues.

These seemingly small, day-to-day practices run in tandem with A Basin's massive, sweeping mountain-wide initiatives, such as operating with 100 percent renewable electricity as of October 2023. The use of solar panels (including the world's highest on Il Rifugio's roof at 12,456 feet), community solar farms, and subscription-based utility programs to power chairlifts, snowmaking, buildings, and electric vehicle chargers, allowed A Basin to achieve another monumental goal: to become 100 percent carbon neutral in April 2024. That is nearly a year ahead of schedule.

Past the Peak of Carbon Neutral

Even with big goals achieved, A Basin isn't sitting back. The mountain continues to push forward. "Right now we're using carbon offsets for things like our diesel- and gas-fueled fleet of snowcats, snowmobiles, and parking lot vehicles. But we know offsets aren't the future," Silverman explains. The next step is electrification of those vehicles, as well as concentrating on the smaller, employee-driven goals like waste diversion, improved transportation, and carpooling efficiency.

At A Basin, you can count on the fact that the buy-in to be better is not just front and center in all the mountain does, but part of the draw too.

Image courtesy Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.