Mountaineering Home

Not verified. Claim this page

Mountaineering Home Sustainability Actions

Cutting mountain carbon emissions

The Sustainable Summits Initiative launched a plan in 2022 to cut the mountain adventure community’s carbon emissions in half by 2030. It is building a toolkit to help climbers and related groups act on this goal. The toolkit covers policy advocacy, personal goal setting, communication, leadership, success examples, and measurement. In simple terms, it is trying to turn climate concern into practical steps that people in the climbing world can use.

13

Running sustainability conferences

Since 2010, the Sustainable Summits Initiative has held biannual conferences in places such as Colorado, New Zealand, Chamonix, and Nepal. These events have focused on local environmental problems in mountain regions, including waste and other impacts from visitors. The 2020 Nepal conference was replaced by a film because of the pandemic, and that film was later shown at COP26, the UN climate summit. This shows a long-running effort to share mountain conservation ideas across countries.

13 15

Using wind power at the resort

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort says it switched to 100% green power for all electricity in 2019. That includes lifts, facilities, and base area operations. The resort says it directly sources wind power from the Horse Butte Wind Farm in Idaho. It also says its buildings, lifts, and snowmaking run on wind energy, which is meant to lower the resort’s climate impact.

7 13

Protecting whitebark pine

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort says it has been recognized as a Whitebark Pine Friendly Ski Area. Whitebark pine is a high-altitude tree that helps hold snow, protect fragile soil, and feed wildlife. The resort says it works with the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative to protect mature trees, plant seedlings, support research, and teach guests why the species matters.

15

Reducing waste and recycling

RMI Expeditions says it has a large recycling program that collects materials from the office, the mountain, and employee housing. It also says its guides are Certified Leave No Trace Trainers, meaning they are trained to teach low-impact outdoor behavior. The company says it was the first commercially guided expedition to carry all of its waste off Denali in 2002, and it still works with land managers on better waste practices.

12 15

Using shuttles and shared housing

RMI says it reduces travel emissions at its Mt. Rainier base by using electric-hybrid group shuttles instead of having climbers drive separately. It also provides local housing for guides so they can walk to work and share living space, which keeps more cars off the road. These are practical transport and housing choices meant to lower the footprint of day-to-day operations.

11 13

Supporting carbon offsets

RMI says its programs in Mt. Rainier and Denali National Parks are carbon neutral. It works with Ostrom Climate, a carbon management provider, to buy offsets for greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsets are credits used to balance emissions by funding projects that reduce or store carbon elsewhere. RMI says the offsets support the Great Bear Rainforest Carbon Project, which protects forest land from logging.

13 15

Designing more sustainable buildings

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort says that from 2020 onward, future building projects will go through a design review to check for sustainable materials and best practices. The resort says the goal is to create environmentally certificated buildings. This means it is trying to make new construction less harmful by reviewing materials and design choices before work begins.

11 12