Passage I

The Greening of Winter

I love to snowboard, and, like most snowboarders and skiers, I love to be outdoors during winter. However, busy ski resorts can take a toll on the environment. The clear-cutting of trees to create new ski runs on mountainsides, though, a one-time event, devastate fragile ecosystems and destroys wildlife habitats. The effects don’t stop there.

People often drive—or in many cases fly—to their favorite ski resorts. Long-distance travel generates CO₂ emissions, which, in turn, compound global warming. Once at the resort, skiers and snowboarders rely on extensive networks of energy-hungry chairlifts—gondolas and high-speed quads— to whisk them up to the top of the mountain. Often, on the other hand, the very snow they relish on the trip back down the mountain has been artificially made using powerful snow cannons that suck water from creeks and streams. Due to some of the effects of global warming in recent years, even more snow must arrive to keep the slopes covered. This process further degrades local ecosystems.

[1] We’ve joined a growing number of skiers and snowboarders here in Colorado who take safety classes and participate in a type of backcountry skiing nicknamed “earn your turns.” [2] Rather than Visit a nearby ski resort, I strap my snowboard and gear on my back. [3] The hike can last for two hours or more, just so I can get in one run down a slope. [4] But I enjoyed the slow climb up the mountain almost like they’re the fast turns on the way down. [5] I then step into a pair of snowshoes and hike up into remote areas. (11)

Even in the middle of winter, the sun, high in a blue sky, keeps me warm. Like me, wildlife avoids the ski resorts; I spot tracks made by elk, coyote, fox, and even the endangered lynx. Hiking up through the forest, and seeing fresh snow bunched on pine boughs, reinforces my effort to make snowboarding a little greeter. And my reward at the end of the slow climb for two hours? Flying down the mountain through, untouched snow! I can’t imagine buying a chairlift ticket anytime soon.