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We’re all very aware of the importance of changing our habits to become more eco-friendly. But have you ever thought about your ski holiday being sustainable?

Although skiing and sustainability can seem like an oxymoron, there are actually some smart ways you can make your holiday more sustainable.  You don’t need to cut out your holiday- you need to be smart and start making changes today.

Smart Swaps to Make Your Ski Holiday More Sustainable

Travel

The biggest factor to consider on your ski holiday is how you get to the slopes. Unfortunately for most Brits, reaching the high mountains means crossing a border or two. It’s a good idea to choose a resort that is closer to you. Choosing how you get to resort can make the biggest reduction on your carbon footprint.

Make Your Ski Holiday More Sustainable

How to plan a ski holiday

Did you know you can take a train to the Alps?

The Eurostar Train is a possibility for skiers after a new weekly Charter service was adding in 2022. The direct service between London St Pancras and either Bourg St Maurice or Moutiers operates every Saturday. Seats on this service are only available as part of a package, which includes return Eurostar seats, transfers directly to and from your chosen holiday accommodation plus a 7-day ski pass, you get an extra day skiing by train!

The Eurostar packages are available through UK ski specialist agent Ski Line and are excellent value, prices start at just £550pp for weeks stay.  It’s not just the prices that appeal or the extra days skiing,  your Carbon dioxide equivalent (C202e) is 170.06KG less than a similar journey by air!

The ski resorts featured by Eurostar include: La Plagne, Les Arcs, Tignes, Val d’Isere, Courchevel, Meribel, Val Thorens, Les Menuires and Brides les Bains. There is a range of accommodation options to cater for all tastes and budgets from simple apartments to luxury hotels.

The Eurostar charter train depart London every Saturday at 08:20 and arrives in Moutiers at 16:45 & Bourg-Saint-Maurice at 17:23. The return journey home, departs Borg at 20:35 and Moutiers at 21:02 on Saturday evening, arriving back at London St Pancras at 07:06 on Sunday morning.

You can also take the Alpen Express to visit Austrian resorts like St Anton and Lech. The ski train is direct and leaves on Friday night or Saturday morning from St Pancreas, London. If you take the overnight train it allows you to have an extra day skiing! Here’s even more  info on which resorts you can access by train.

We found this awesome website that has all the information you need to know about train times, prices, and more. Did you know they are planning on having a ski and boot fitting service on the train? So once you arrive at your destination you’re ready to go! They’ll even help you escort your ski gear to your hotel.

Sustainable ski holiday

Electric Cars

If you prefer cruising down the European motorways then driving is an option for you. Cars nowadays are much more efficient which will help to reduce your carbon footprint. We understand electric cars are not accessible to all due to their hefty price tag. But if you do have an electric car- use it! There are plenty of electric hookups at service stations down the motorways.

Tip: In April, Google announced that Google Maps will now show real-time availability of electric vehicle charging stations across Europe. Charging stations include Tesla, Chargepoint, Chargemaster, and more to come. Open GoogleMaps, type into the search bar “Electric Vehicle Charging” and it will come up with a selection of your closest plug-in points.

Make Your Ski Holiday More Sustainable

Choose a “green” resort

Resorts across Europe are making a huge effort to become more eco-friendly. Avoriaz won the Environment Award for Ecological Developments at the 2012 World Snow Awards. “Flocon Vert” has been introduced as a new way of rating resorts, based on how sustainable they are. Flocon Vert, meaning green snowflake was created by the French environmental charity Mountain Riders.

The ratings are based on their sustainability of snowmaking and the efficiency of lifts and buildings. This is a really positive step, so choose wisely when you’re deciding your next ski destination. Here is a list of some sustainable resorts in Europe.

St Anton

St Anton is a fantastic example of a green resort because it has multiple links via public transport. The trains, buses, and roads are easy to navigate and run regular services. Oberlech, above Lech, is a car-free resort. “RespekTiere deine Grenzen” is the motto in the ski resort and translates to respect your borders.

St Anton has a large variety of flora and fauna and by respecting the ski area boundaries you will be helping to protect the local wildlife & native plant life. There are, of course still areas marked on the map where you can ski off-piste and out of the flora and fauna zone. St Anton is also lucky to have a very new lift system which is very efficient and many of the lifts are run on solar power.

flocon vert - Make Your Ski Holiday More Sustainable

Lech

Lech-Zürs built a renewable energy biomass plant around 20 years ago that covers 80% of their energy needs and supplies 100 hotels, and over 200 homes. This saves 22,000 tons of CO2 that would have been emitted into the air. The plant also generates 65 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy to the resort. It feels like Lech really is one step ahead.

Avoriaz

France’s only car-free resort and the proud winner of ‘The Most Innovative Resort For Sustainable Development’ in 2014.

La Plagne & Les Arcs

La Plagne and the Paradiski region is up to speed and very sustainable because it has been using 100% renewable energy to power its ski lifts since 2012. The resort is using renewable energy such as hydroelectricity, wind power, and solar power.

Serre Chevalier

Serre Chevalier is the first ski resort to produce its own electricity combining different types of renewable energy. They produce hydroelectricity through the snow-making network and create power using micro-wind turbines.

Make Your Ski Holiday More Sustainable

Get ski gear that lasts

Buying a good quality ski jacket & salopettes is necessary for your ski holiday. We understand it can be more expensive but believe us- it’s worth it. It will make your ski holiday more sustainable if you only have to buy a jacket every couple of years as supposed to every ski trip.

All of our instructors wear The North Face which we cannot recommend highly enough. If you don’t want to be matching with us then you can check out what else Ellis Brigham has on offer. Or if you need some guidance on what kind of ski clothing to buy we have lots of knowledge.

It’s essential for you to have a waterproof jacket when out on the slopes because believe it or not, sometimes it rains. Yep, it’s not a great day but it’s better to be dry and cozy than sodden and sulking.

A ski brand that stands out for its efforts to be sustainable is Picture Organic. Their commitment to up-cycling plastic to make ski clothing is far beyond other companies. All of their technical products are made from a minimum of 50% recycled polyester from plastic bottles. They guarantee that the fabric does not contain harmful chemicals. Instead of replacing, they repair as often as possible and you can buy Picture clothing on the Ellis Brigham website.

Or, just repair what you’ve already got

If you have a broken zip or a little snag on your puffa jacket don’t just throw it out. Fix it! Your clothing should be built to last for a long time so give it the love it deserves. We love following along on Patagonia’s campaigns of Worn Wear. They travel around in a horsebox or van fixing people’s kit for free in different resorts. And get this – it’s not only Patagonia clothing they repair. You can also buy a repaired second-hand kit for a discounted price! So follow along on their journey and look out for when they’re in a resort near you.

Make Your Ski Holiday More Sustainable

Other little habits to change:

One thing to remember is that changes, no matter how big or small, do make a big difference. If you’ve read this far, we can already tell you are looking for ways to make a difference and that is a fantastic mindset to be in. If you want to read more about how to make your ski holiday more sustainable you should take a look at the Protect Our Winters (POW) campaign which was started by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones.

In order to keep our ski resorts pristine, be sure to put your litter in the bin, whether you’re on the street or on the mountain.  If you’re a smoker, many resorts have targets under the chairlifts that you can aim your cigarette butts at. This is a fun way to keep them all in one place to not litter the mountain.

Another easy change to make is to use the bus shuttle around the resort. Most resorts will have a free service that runs regularly so it’s good to make the most of it! It’s a much more eco way of getting around, rather than getting taxis and company minibusses.