Holidays generate greenhouse gas and ski holidays are no exception. However, if no flying is involved, ski holidays can be relatively low carbon. The carbon consulting firm ecollective, includes a train-based ski trip to France (from the UK) among its list of lowest-carbon holidays. Transport fairly obviously accounts for most of the emissions associated with a ski holiday. If flights are involved, transport can easily exceed 70% of a ski holiday’s emissions. So the key to a low carbon ski holiday is not flying. Trains and ski lifts, especially when the electricity they use is low carbon, are the best means of moving.
And, ski resorts are not environmentally equal. Some are taking their carbon footprints more seriously than others. Ecollective launched a project with the UK travel company Inghams to gauge how well different ski resorts are managing their emissions. Their list of resorts is not comprehensive and does not rank based on emissions. Instead it asks whether resorts measure emissions and whether they publicly report them. Measuring emissions is the first step in the journey to reducing them.
Ecollective’s list puts French resorts in the lead. All 16 of the French resorts listed measure their emissions, and all but three publish their results. US resorts score highly too. Switzerland is a mixed bag. Of the four Swiss resorts listed, only two (Zermatt and Saas Fee) measure their emissions, and only one (Zermatt) publishes them. The other two Swiss resorts listed (St. Moritz and Verbier) do not measure emissions.
In addition to not flying, another way skiers can reduce their carbon footprint is to take public transport. At Verbier, for example, it is possible to take a combination of train and ski lift all the way to the resort. However, the train is not always ideal if you have a lot of equipment and a family to get to the mountain. For a family of four train travel can be expensive in Switzerland. Children under 16 can travel for free with parents with a Junior Travel Pass. But once they hit 16 the car becomes a much cheaper as well as more convenient option when all of the gear is considered. A family of four could spend nearly CHF 250 to CHF 500 on return train tickets from Geneva to Verbier if their children are over 16. For those who already have a car, the fuel (or electricity) cost would be a small fraction of that sum.
Verbier has an opportunity (that it has not seized) to reduce car use by those who choose car travel. Since December 2021, the lift between Le Châble (850m), in the valley, and Verbier village (1,500m) has been part of the public transport network. It runs from 05h15 in the morning to 23h50 at night nearly every day. This means drivers could park at the bottom of the valley and catch the lift up to the village. The 650m climb up to the village in a car burns significant energy and generates pollution. The lift is running and catching it adds nothing to emissions. Switching the car for the lift makes environmental sense. But there is a catch. Despite a large number of parking spaces in Le Châble there is often nowhere to legally park overnight, forcing drivers that might choose the lift to make the climb to the village in their car.
There is one small cark park in Le Châble where cars can be left overnight, but it is often full and far from the lift. During the winter season the odds of finding a parking spot are quite low and the long icey walk to the lift is inconvenient. If a car is left overnight in one of the many other empty closer spaces, car owners should expect to get an expensive ticket – it is illegal to park in these parks between midnight and 5am and the municipal police are active ticket issuers.
Those in charge of car parking in Le Châble have essentially made burning the extra fuel to drive up to Verbier village the best option – If you can’t leave your car you can’t take the lift (or bus). Expanding the number of overnight parks in Le Châble and encouraging visitors to park and take the lift up would be an easy and potentially impactful environmental gesture that would require no investment.
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
