The skier: An industry exec takes stock of winter and prepares for change

Jan. 10, 2012

Aspen Skiing Co. has a long reputation within the ski industry for efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Auden Schendler, the man overseeing Aspen's efforts, looks at the changes coming and says those efforts are not enough.

Climate Query For Auden Schendler

Auden Schendler opinion piece in The Atlantic (Jan. 3, 2012)

Interview conducted and condensed by Rae Tyson

DailyClimate.org

Editor's note: Climate Query is a semi-weekly feature offered by Daily Climate, presenting short Q&A's with players large and small in the climate arena. Read others in the series.

The ski industry is in a pickle. Cold weather and snow are essential, yet energy-intensive operations are driving the world toward a warmer, drier climate. Resort owners have taken notice, and within the industry Colorado-based Aspen Skiing Co. has consistently earned high marks from environmentalists for its efforts to reduce industry's footprint.

Aspen lent its muscle to a Greenpeace-led boycott of Kimberly-Clark in 2007, removing all Kimberly-Clark products and erasing printed reference to a famous Aspen Mountain location – Kleenex Corner – until the company agreed, in 2009, to use more recycled fiber. Aspen also was the only company to intervene in Massachusetts vs. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the precedent-setting 2006 Supreme Court case that declared carbon dioxide a pollutant.

Operator of four world-class ski mountains – Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk – Aspen hosts 1.4 million visitors annually and is one of Western Colorado's largest businesses. For 2012, the company hopes to cut its carbon dioxide emissions 10 percent. 

Auden Schendler is Aspen's vice president of sustainability and a disciple of energy-efficiency guru Amory Lovins. A native of New Jersey, he is the man tasked with reducing the resort’s environmental impact. 

People in your position are usually clear-skies and optimism. You've expressed frustration. What gives?

We’re cutting our carbon footprint slowly, but it’s a bitch. We should all be honest about how tough it is. 

Why is Aspen an industry leader in this effort?

We decided, as a corporation, that we need to be constantly reinventing ourselves to survive environmental threats, technological disruptions, regulatory changes and other game-changing challenges to our business.

Data suggests a gradual warming trend in Colorado. Any appreciable impact on your operations at this point?

Actually, the data show radical warming. Overall, we’re several degrees ahead of warming in the rest of the U.S. It rained on Christmas (in 2010). All day. So far, it has not impacted business, other than some rapid spring runoffs that are sometimes alarming.

But it could hurt if trends continue?

Without question. We expect it.

How are you preparing for a future that might have less snow?

We can’t just be snow-dependent. Hotels will likely be less impacted than skiing from climate. That is why we recently purchased the Limelight Hotel. We are also trying new stuff for the off-season, including mountain biking and fly fishing. 

You built a micro-hydro plant on-site that generates 140,000 kilowatt hours annually. That's small change. What will it take to make big strides?

We are working on a ($6 million) project to capture methane from a coal mine to generate electricity. You capture that methane and destroy it by burning it in a turbine. The electricity generated would be roughly 20 million kilowatt hours. Our resort uses 30 million kilowatt hours. 

What else is in your crosshairs?

We’re doing an astonishing amount of efficiency work. But we are still not seeing radical energy savings. It’s really hard to move the needle even though we are pounding on it with a sledge hammer.

A recent study suggested that, because of development that destroys forest land, ski resorts are doing significant environmental harm. Accurate assessment?

If you are asking if skiing is a green business, it’s not. It’s hugely energy intensive and requires massive travel by participants.

Why pick on Kimberly-Clark?

If you care about climate change you have to look for big levers. We know that Aspen has leverage so, when we move, people notice.

How tempting is it to just ditch work and go ski?

Hey, the reality is, we are a ski resort and you have to be able to talk skiing with the guests and have a sense for what’s going on on the mountain.

Photos of Auden Schendler (top) and the Aspen/Snowmass ski resort on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 courtesy Aspen Skiing Co.

Rae Tyson pioneered the environmental beat at USA Today in the 1980s and today restores and races vintage motorcycles in central Pennsylvania. 

Climate Query is a semi-weekly feature offered by DailyClimate.org, a nonprofit news service that covers climate change.

 Find more Daily Climate stories in the TDC Newsroom

 Recent DailyClimate.org coverage