I used to teach skiing. And I was one of what seemed a dwindling group of people that argued about the ecological soundness of ski resorts. There really are some good points I will not clutter this blog up with today.
That those pluses for the environment are on the ever lighter end of the scale in relationship to the mega kilowatts spent every night to blow snow, and the diesel fuel used to groom that snow more and more finely to please the diminishing consumer (skiing is not a growth sport) is another matter for more in depth discussion. This blog was going to be about the Angel Fire Resort announcing night skiing beginning on this Saturday. And how very inappropriate that seemed in juxtaposition to the conference on global warming taking place.
We are tree huggers in New Mexico. Part of the reasons we are so in trouble every summer because of wild fires is groups like Carson Watch that worked to ban logging and also stopped harvesting of dead and down trees for firewood. Our various Chambers of Commerce and tourist bureaus headline our unpolluted night skies. Where I live five miles south of Angel Fire nothing competes with the stars at night but the moon. And by 9:30 at night in Angel Fire only the street lights are on and their have been movements to turn those off for star gazers.
And to this mix comes a corporation that will do anything for the all mighty tourist dollar. They have installed lights and will now begin night skiing. I have to feel sad for all the owners of ski-in/ski-in houses and condos along the trails. Many of them already bitch and moan about the noise the snow making machines make all night long. Not to mention the snow cats grooming the newly made snow all night. Now they need to contend with the glaring lights. I suppose there will be a rush on blackout shades.
That is what this was going to be about. Then I Googled an image for this blog. I knew that resorts very close to metropolitan areas did night skiing to capture the after work sports fan. But I was shocked to see the number of ski resorts that now tout night skiing from Arizona to Vermont. All those mega watts of candle power illuminating once pristine mountain skies, warming the night, wasting energy that so many of us are trying to save by turning off every spare light in the house and switching to those awful energy efficient florescent bulbs.
Am I working on tolerating 62 degrees over 72 in my house so they can warm of the atmosphere with all that candle power for a few people to ski after the sun goes down? I am sure night skiing is just the tip of the power wasting iceberg (all of which are melting away) but before Obama demands accountability from the Chinese maybe we need to show some here. It costs the average ski area between $3000 and $10,000 a night in electric power to blow snow. And we talk about the shortage of clean power in the US?
And there is night golf, and night tennis. And Phoenix that mists its walkways with water it steals from the Colorado Watershed. Not to mention watering it 150 golf course in an area that gets less than 6 inches of rain a year. This shit has got to stop. We need to align ourselves with the earth we live upon not try and force it to be what will generate money for the already extremely wealthy.
If God had wanted night skiing in New Mexico she would have made the stars brighter.
Those are some very large numbers you are quoting for nightly costs of electric power. Are you sure of those numbers? What is your source for that information?
ReplyDeleteHerb
Ski areas I worked at and skied at. And that would be in pre 2001 dollars. And of course energy was also cheaper then. You have to factor in not merely the blowers but also all the pumps used to bring water from wells and catch basins.
ReplyDeleteI do know that they try every chance they can get to augment the electric power with diesel generators which don't help the noise pollution issue at ski resorts.
It is a figure they toss around to justify the rise in lift prices at ski areas. I have not verified it with electric power companies.
Yes, Shers, skiing used to belong to what I called the sail boat class of sports. Participants were into the quiet and pristine beauty and the grace. Motor boaters have taken over. They ski in packs and usually drunk.
ReplyDeleteIt was one such person from Oklahoma that hit me trying to beat his sister to the bar and ended my skiing career.
I can't believe so many people would want to night ski. Amazing that the demand is there.
ReplyDeleteI have seen it work in areas near a major metropolitan area where people can hope up after work. We aren't.
ReplyDeleteOur tourists here have a tendency, Lisa, to be fair weather skiers. They don't even like it when it is cloudy or below freezing (a requirement for snow). I don't see it as something that will pay for itself unless they are counting in the bar receipts.
I am just too surprised to comment coherently. I am amazed that this is happening - whatever happened to skiing for pure enjoyment, fun and apres ski??? Yes everyone has their eye on the almighty dollar but at some point, something has got to give.
ReplyDeleteHere we all are - no matter where we live - trying to preserve energy and this sort of thing is being allowed to happen. In the UK it's now illegal to have the old type electricity bulbs - you have to have those awful saving energy things - and then this!
The noise, the lights, the wastage.........doesn't make sense. Let the after workers ski at weekends or when they're on holiday. boy, the price of progress!
Here in Salt Lake where you are 30 minutes from a half dozen ski resorts, night skiing is very popular. The afterwork, afterschool crowd. Plus the lift tickets are cheaper at night and anymore it's becoming a rich man's sport.
ReplyDeleteAs usual......a different perspective on the US that I really enjoyed reading.......thankyou Lady J.
ReplyDeleteYes, Becky, it might make sense in areas like Salt Lake City. But the metropolitan area has already polluted the night skies. And the ski areas have a large population to draw from for the night event.
ReplyDeleteHere our total population is 1400 or there about. It has to be for the tourists alone which have already skied all day supposedly.
And when much of the property around the resort was developed there were not even any snow making going on. Angel Fire Resort was developed in 1967. There were barely snowcats.
And thank you, Michael. I am not sure it is a part of the US I enjoy at all. The little people are trying to conserve energy and the mega corporations are wasting it hand over fist.
And Bee, I am looking forward to the day when they link those energy saving bulbs to increased falls down stairs. They really do not make sense in such locations or when a bulb is turned on briefly and then off. Then they actually waste energy.
May I quote a comment from Viet Nam?
ReplyDeleteKill'em All Let Got Sort'em out
or how about
It's not our job to judge it's our job to arrange that meeting
Yes, yes I am that old Aged Wine Is Good For Me