How to make skiing more ecologically friendly
CONSERVATIONISTS have never liked ski resorts and for good reason. Trees are chopped down to make way for trails that skiers can use. This breaks up forest habitat and stresses local species that are disturbed not only by the construction but also by the skiers themselves during the day and the maintenance crews at night. The machines used to create a smooth piste compact the ground and remove the topsoil, leaving scars down mountainsides that are clearly visible when the snow melts, as are the pylons used by the ski lifts. Yet a new study has revealed that certain ski slopes have unexpected ecological benefits.
The most popular ski resorts in Europe are at high altitudes, where snow falls early in the season and, with luck, regularly throughout it. Most studies of the ecological impact of skiing have examined the ecological devastation caused by these resorts. However, few studies have examined the impact of skiing at resorts popular in the American west that are typically built at lower altitudes, below the tree line. The ski slopes at such resorts are created in one of two ways: chopping down trees, leaving small stumps that are covered by snow; and chopping down trees, removing the stumps, relocating any boulders and machine-levelling the ground.
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