As a locally owned company, Stevens Pass believes we have a responsibility to both the Pacific Northwest environment and regional climate that allow us to conduct business at all. While a few dissenters may still exist on the periphery, mainstream science has faced the facts, and the facts tell us clearly that global warming is human-driven and that addressing it is critical.  If you’re a snow-related industry, that’s obviously going to affect the bottom-line, and we are seeking to lead by example in tackling it.  We also believe that discerning day-use snow enthusiasts will favor a winter resort that acknowledges and seeks to mitigate its own impacts.  And after operating in the same location for 70 years, we also reckon that protecting and restoring the natural resources that have provided us our livelihood is the least we can do. 

Careful stewardship of the mountain is essential to our success, and we have committed to incorporating a genuine environmental ethic into our day-to-day actions. It’s by no means an easy process, and there have been some missteps along the way:  decades ago no one worried much about this stuff. But we happen to think that today there’s no alternative – we must act with sustainability in mind to stay in business. As a result, over the past few years, we have taken a critical look at our operating protocols and philosophies, and begun to revise our operating plan, based on five core principles: innovation, sustainability, responsibility, integrity, and stewardship.  Initiatives from waste-oil recycling to windpower are softening our impact not just on the National Forest where we operate, but also far beyond.

So where do things stand? These webpages describe a sampling of the wide-ranging efforts underway that collectively help us mitigate the unavoidable consequences of living, working, and recreating in this wonderful setting.

Like many resorts, by far our biggest impacts on the environment are energy consumption and transportation, due to the greenhouse gas emissions produced, likely followed by foodservice operations. We use over 400 homes’ worth of electricity annually, and burn thousands of gallons of propane, diesel, or gasoline in our operations. We are acutely aware of how much this contributes to our ecological footprint – clearly we, and others, have a lot of work to do.

Ross Freeman
Environment & Sustainability Manager, Stevens Pass

Read more about our Environment Program:

Windpower | Carbon Offsets 

Sustainability 

Innovation

Reduce | Reuse | Recycle

Community

Awards & Recognition

Media Coverage

How You Can Help