Ski resorts in both the US and Europe know their clients care increasingly about the environment and climate change – skiers after all enjoy their time in the open – and the ski resort authorities have been doing a lot to make their areas and facilities environmentally friendly.

Vail Colorado for example operates one of the largest recycling programmes of any ski resort in North America, and their on-mountain recycling programme is the largest of its kind in North America.

Vail Resorts who are the owners responsible for the initiative, have five mountain resorts. Each resort receives monetary contributions of $1 from each skier per season pass, online lift ticket transaction and night spent at the resort in the Colorado and California locations. Since the programme began, Vail has received more than $550,000 in guest contributions. The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has matched the contributions by more than $275,000. All funds are used for projects that aim to restore, improve and protect Vail’s neighboring National Forests.

The effort put forth by Vail Resorts owners, employees and skiers alike gives a glimpse into the number of skiers who are concerned about the environment. The preservation of National Forests is a major factor in the success of not only Vail Resorts but other ski resorts worldwide. The environment that the skiers are helping protect is the same environment that attracts them to Vail Resorts to begin with.

Vail’s five major resorts are some of the most visited and most family friendly resorts in North America. Families can learn very valuable lessons about wildlife preservation, recycling and environmental issues. Currently, Vail’s recycling programme recycles an impressive about 70 percent of on-mountain waste. The amount of waste recycled equals nearly one pound per guest. About 100 tons of material per month are recycled during an average ski season.

Some of the most notably environment friendly parts of the resorts are:

* Beaver Creek’s Spruce Saddle Lodge. The lodge is the first ski resort restaurant to become a Certified Green Restaurant by the Green Restaurant Association. The GRA is a national non-profit organization that dedicates its time to setting sustainable environmental standards within the restaurant industry. Spruce Saddle Lodge is one of the first resort restaurants to be recognized by the GRA for multiple environmental breakthroughs. The restaurant uses recycled, tree-free, biodegradable and organic products throughout the lodge. It also maintains impressive water efficiency, energy and conservation levels and recycling and composting programs.

* Keystone Composting at Keystone Ranch Restaurant. Keystone’s composting programme began in 2002 and has grown immensely over the years. More than 500 pounds of kitchen waste per week is being diverted from landfill. Combined with efforts from the Keystone Conference Center, food scraps and wood shavings create the soil used in landscaping throughout the resort. Similar composting programs are being established by other resorts.

* Heavenly Waste Reduction, in partnership with California’s El Dorado County, diverts about 482 tons of recyclable waste from landfills each year. Surrounding communities are also encouraged to keep yard waste out of local landfills. An annual event, Compost Your Combustibles, educates and encourages citizens to participate in recycling and composting efforts.

* Vail Resorts and RockResorts. Recycling programmes are in place for all employees and guests of any Vail Resorts or RockResorts. They promote water conservation to guests by promoting the reuse of towels and linens for multi-night stays. Restaurants on the resorts use biodegradable, compostable and recycled food and beverage containers and flatware. The resorts recycle beverage and food containers and paper items used in all resort operations. All areas of the resorts use environmentally friendly cleaning products that are not only safer for the environment, but for guests and employees as well.

Resorts worldwide are becoming more environmentally aware and passing their knowledge on to their guests. With the help of their guests, they are able to conserve more water and recycle and compost more waste in a broader range of areas of resort operations. The efforts put forth by these resorts and others around the world help protect the environment and wildlife that attracts their visitors, and might just help the snow fall for future years!

Ski holidays information is available with ski guide yourandorra.com and includes the resort of El Tarter Andorra

The ski site also offers ski holiday in Switzerland and ski information is often upadted on their Andorra blogs

At first glance the evidence is irrefutable, global warming is starting to have an affect on ski resorts. Any ski resort that is at a lower altitude than its neighbours, particularly in the Alps will bear the brunt of this phenomenon.

The doomsday merchants would have us believe that skiing will be a thing of the past and will be an activity confined to the extreme ski/boarding thrill seekers. If this prediction was to manifest itself then winter sports holidays would become the preserve of the wealthy.

Research by the United Nations Environment Programme predicts that more than half of resorts in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria could face bankruptcy over the next 50 years as the snow line rises.

Admittedly a few years ago it seemed that the skiing apocalypse had been visited upon us and the peddlers of doom had been right. The pistes were a patchwork of mud, grass with a sprinkling of snow.

Yet all indications are that this ski season has seen the best dumps of snow in a generation over Europe, Canada and the US. The global financial crisis couldn't have come at a worse time for skiing and boarding devotees. To ski or not to ski? It appears that skiers are not being put off by the financial crisis. The hardcore ski/boarding fan wants to take advantage of the fantastic dumps and hang the financial consequences. This is perhaps their attempt to laugh in the faces of the climate experts.

The evidence is scientifically conclusive and with the proliferation of snow cannons in many of the Alpine resorts the snow line is clearly retreating. Many of the lower resorts will have to revaluate their winter sports options over the coming decade and start to diversify.

For the skier and snowboarder there have never been so many choices of winter sports holidays. For those that can book last minute there are plenty of bargains to be had. So don't let the climatologists spoil your fun, book a winter sports holiday and get on the piste.

Christopher Priestley writes for Platinum Piste. Platinum Piste is an internet based ski and snowboard travel agency that currently offers ski and snowboard holidays to five countries on two continents. Platinum Piste offers ski or snowboarding holidays without compromise.

With the issue of global warming becoming a frightening reality in the Alps, and with snow lines predicted to rise by as much as 300m over the next forty years – forcing skiers to abandon all but the highest ski resorts – the ski industry is facing a number of short to medium term problems. The ski industry and skiers rely on the mountain environment for their very existence and need to protect and preserve the skiing environment if they and future generations are to enjoy the same benefits. To do this both skiers and the ski industry need to take important steps towards sustainable tourism.

The concept of sustainable tourism revolves around the precept of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. With respect to the ski industry it means developing tourism which is both planned and managed so that it doesn’t cause environmental problems in the tourism area whilst maintaining, if not actually improving, the environmental quality of the area whilst maintaining the normal levels of customer satisfaction. And with a UK market of over 1 million participants, the skiing industry is in a unique position to not only contribute to sustainable tourism but to also raise awareness amongst clients.

Certainly, one of the greatest threats to skiing is climate change; and, although there is still some debate around global warming, general scientific opinion now acknowledges the phenomenon. And, with the retreat of Europe's glaciers over the last century this certainly appears to be the case.

However, if the skiing industry embraces sustainable forms of tourism and acknowledges their responsibility they could set the trend for the rest of the tourism industry. This can be achieved in a number of ways: waste reduction and disposal/recycling, fuel efficient transport, energy efficient accommodation and training staff in environmental practice.

The skiing industry is a service industry and, as such, the company providing the best service will have a clear competitive advantage. But, as environmental performance and enjoyable holidays are increasingly interlinked, adopting and putting into practice an environmental policy could give the first movers in the ski industry a unique competitive advantage whilst working to preserve a pristine natural mountain environment on which the industry relies.

Matt lives and works in Chamonix
He runs skiing holidays through his company Chalet 1802.