In Engelberg, all mountain railways are powered entirely by hydroelectric energy and are therefore virtually carbon-neutral. The snow groomers for the Titlis mountain railway are also powered by biofuel. In the family-friendly Brunni ski resort, sustainability is even considered a strategy: throughout Switzerland, the Brunni ski resort is the only certified climate-neutral ski area! Since 2016, there has been a solar power plant at the Ristis middle station, which produces roughly the amount of electricity needed for making artificial snow on the slopes between Ristis and Brunnihütte. In addition, the Berglodge Restaurant Ristis has had a solar roof since 2019, which produces more electricity than is needed. And the Brunni ski resort is even the first ski area in Switzerland to light up its pistes for night-time skiing with economical LED lamps! 

Greenstyle – the sustainability initiative of the Flims Laax Falera ski area – is ambitious, economically justifiable, and addresses those areas where ski resorts have the greatest leverage: in building technology and mobility. With a seven-point plan, the modern ski area has a clear vision: to become the world’s first self-sustaining alpine destination. What does that mean exactly? All the energy required is to be covered by regionally produced, 100% renewable energy. With the renovation of the Crap Sogn Gion upper station, the ski area even wants to create a beacon for sustainability in tourism. The building is not only to be transformed from a consumer into a producer, but is intended to create an entirely new guest experience at the same time.

As a member of the Protect Our Winters organisation, and knowing that the journey to the ski area accounts for a significant proportion of a guest’s CO2 emissions, Verbier4Vallées has been promoting the use of public transport for years. On weekends and holidays, the Verbier Express and the VosAlpes Express take snow enthusiasts from Geneva and Fribourg to Switzerland’s largest ski area to be entirely on Swiss soil, with no need to change trains. In addition, there are attractive discounts for the Ski Combi Ticket, as well as the fact that the La Châble-Verbier feeder cable car has been part of the public transport offering since 2021. Getting to the ski area in a climate-friendly manner has never been so easy. 

Environmentally friendly construction has a face in the Toggenburg winter sports region. The summit building, designed by star architects Herzog & De Meuron, nestles into the existing landscape and emphasises the surrounding Churfirsten peaks. The input of the environmental associations was creatively integrated, and resource-saving construction was consistently the focus during all phases of the project. The footprint was minimised thanks to several factors: The building stands on only three strip foundations, the renewable resource wood is dominant in the building material, and all materials and movables – except for the crane – were transported by cable car to 2,262 metres above sea level. Finally, local companies implemented the project, which generated added value in the region. This environmentally well thought-out summit restaurant even earned the Chäserrugg the “Landscape of the Year 2021” award. 

“Nature is the employer of every mountain railway.” This mundane fact determines the day-to-day work in the Engadin St. Moritz ski area. The current project is a second natural reservoir, which is scheduled to be operational by 2025. The intention behind it? To save considerable resources for making artificial snow. Because with reservoirs, the melting water does not simply flow away unused. It is stored in artificial basins, where the water is used for making fresh snow again in December at 2,500 metres above sea level. 50% of the water required for this cycle is currently obtained from meltwater. The goal of the new natural reservoir? 100% reclaimed water for making artificial snow – a world first!

Murat Pelit is a member of the Swiss Paralympic Ski Team and a World Cup athlete. With his Ti-Rex Sport association, the Ticino native has set himself a goal: to make outdoor sports accessible to those with walking disabilities. Such as in Airolo, the largest ski area in Ticino. Here, people with lower musculoskeletal impairments can speed down the slopes on mono skis and dual skis – a skiing experience that is almost equal to classic skiing. Thanks to special brackets, the sports equipment can even be carried on chairlifts and T-bar lifts without any problems. The skills required for monoskiing can be learned in a ski course. Those who prefer life on two skis use dual skis, which are steered by a person accompanying them or by themselves. A prime example of inclusion – even on the slopes.

Great visions came to be in the 2000s in the picturesque village of Tenna in the canton of Graubünden. The disused ski lift in the small but beautiful ski area, which is ideal for families with children, was not to be simply replaced by a conventional ski lift. Rather, the aim was to prove in the Walser village that renewable energy in ski operations is no longer a dream of the future, but can even play the leading role. The world’s first solar ski lift started operating in 2011. Every year, the 450-metre-long ski lift produces more energy than is needed for its winter operations. This excess clean energy is then sold, covering the amortisation and giving a face to sustainable business.

If two terms were to be used to describe Saas-Fee, they would be “car-free” and “hydroelectric power”. The Valais village has always been car-free. The entire community, including its mountain railways, draws 100% of its electricity from clean Valais hydropower – the village at the end of the Saas Valley is anything but backward.

Even the mountain railways in the Saas Valley are holding their own with remarkable projects. The electricity generated from the photovoltaic system on Kreuzboden Saas-Grund is fed directly into the railway system. Over 25 years, this will save 570,000 kg of CO2! And with the ProKilowatt project and in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the Saas Valley mountain railways would like to reduce the heating energy of the shaft heaters for their artificial snow installations by up to 75% in future!

Water, electricity, fuel – running a ski resort undoubtedly requires a lot of energy. So it’s not surprising that the largest and most modern ski area in Central Switzerland is particularly concerned with climate protection. How does it do that? With a whole host of measures. All mountain railways and artificial snow installations are operated in a climate-neutral manner. Since 2015, the ski resort has also exceeded its energy and CO2 reduction targets every year, which it set in collaboration with act, Switzerland’s cleantech agency. Moreover, special public transport offers have already saved 90,000 kg of CO2. And what about culinary offerings? The mountain food restaurants in the ski area deliberately source their products from the region, so zero-kilometre menus are not uncommon! Further emissions are saved by offering a large number of vegetarian dishes.

Three of Switzerland’s 11 car-free winter sports resorts are located in the Aletsch Arena – this fact alone says a lot about the basic attitude of the ski area. In addition, few places are as affected by the consequences of global warming as the largest glacier in the Alps, which the Aletsch Arena is named after. No wonder, then, that the Aletsch Arena is consistently eliminating fossil fuels for the operation of its mountain railways. With the opening of the public transport hub in Fiesch in 2019, it was also possible to realise a unique project throughout Switzerland that takes the understanding of climate-friendly, convenient transport to a new level. The public transport hub in the village of Fiesch combines the railway station with the bus terminal and provides direct access to the ski area by cable car.