SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 7, 2019—Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) has joined the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Climate Challenge. The voluntary program has been helping ski areas inventory, target, reduce and report greenhouse emissions since 2012.

“The health of the environment is something I have been sensitive to for a long time, going back to my time on NSAA’s Board of Directors a couple decades ago when I served on the environmental committee,” said Vern Greco, CEO of PGRI. “I’m very pleased we’ve been able to bring the five Pacific Group Resorts properties to the point where they can collectively be a meaningful contributor to NSAA’s Climate Challenge efforts.”

PGRI’s five resorts—Powderhorn Mountain, Colo., Mt. Washington, B.C., Ragged Mountain, N.H., Wisp Resort, Md., and Wintergreen Resort, Va.—have each named a “sustainability champion” to lead a steering committee on the ground that will execute local initiatives over the next few years to reduce waste and energy usage. PGRI executive vice president Mark Fischer hinted at some of the actionable steps the resorts may take, including reducing equipment idling time, buying carbon credits, planting trees, recycling and composting, and asking suppliers to limit shipping materials.

The PGRI properties are also approaching the Climate Challenge as a collaborative effort involving not just resort operations but guests, with the goal of eventually getting to a carbon-neutral footprint. “As part of our sustainability effort, we will be communicating with our guests and educating them in how they can help by respecting the no idling zones in our drop-off areas, making sure they participate in the recycling programs, and use refillable water bottles instead of single use plastic containers. Our pitch to them is pretty simple—we’re all in this together, so let’s all pitch in,” said Fischer.