In honor of Earth Day, we’ll take a look at the sustainability of skiing and ski travel. Like little canaries, Nordic skiers see and feel the impacts of climate change often. What is our impact? How might we ski more sustainably?

Arguably the two biggest environmental impacts of our sport, measured by CO2 emissions at least, are ski trail preparation and travel to the trails. While there is little information available on the CO2 footprint of an average Nordic skier day, there are several studies that look at the CO2 footprint of an average Alpine skier day--mostly calculating the energy it takes to (1) make snow snow, (2) groom it and (3) run lifts. One European study calculates the energy used for those three activities, divided by the number of skiers to estimate an average of about 16 kwh / skier day -- around 28 miles driven in an average car. Another study from the US estimates the average skier day consumes about 0.02 tons of CO2 -- around 50 miles driven in an average car. Considering Nordic skiing does not use chairlifts and groomers are not driving up and down mountains to prepare the track, let’s estimate that even a Nordic area with intensive grooming and snowmaking uses less than 16 kwh of energy / skier day -- that’s assuming the trails have many skiers. I guess that’s an argument for getting more skiers onto Nordic trails ;)

The biggest environmental impact of Nordic skiing is arguably the transportation to the trails. Developing trails closer to population centers, incentivizing public transportation and carpooling are all ways to reduce the footprint of ground transportation to ski.

The Dresden City Sprint World Cup in Germany made the conscious choice to host their event in downtown Dresden, rather at the popular Erzgebirge ski area about 50 miles outside of town partly because bringing the event to the people, rather than the people to the event, would reduce the environmental impact. 

In Seefeld, Austria, an annual trail pass costs about $120 to access 200+ km of groomed trails includes free transportation by train from Innsbruck, which is about 45 minutes away and usually costs about $12 for the round-trip ticket. Someone living in Innsbruck would only have to ski 10 times in a winter to pay off their season pass in transportation savings alone.

Still need to drive to that ski trail or event? Carpooling with friends, family and teammates is another way to reduce the carbon footprint of travel to skiing and socialize at the same time.

As Lumi Experiences primarily offers international experiences to skiers from the US and Canada, the environmental impact of air travel is something we think about often. The cost to offset the carbon emissions of an economy class flight from Minneapolis to Munich is about $50. Carbon offsets can be added to the cost of flights with most airlines at the time of booking, or purchased through other carbon offset websites. The proceeds of the offsets often go to reforestation projects to help capture more carbon emissions.

Once our guests arrive in Europe, we aim to travel by coach bus or train. Most of the hotels where we stay are within walking distance of the ski trail and / or town, so travelers can get out and explore at their leisure. We also use public ski buses for point-to-point skiing. I love seeing our guests strike up conversations with locals or other international skiers, sharing stories and building connections along the way. For point-to-point skis, we’ll often get on the bus in the morning when we’re warm and dry, then skiing back to our hotel, where skiers can go at their own pace and grab a bite to eat or hot shower when they arrive. When possible, we also try to stay at family run hotels to support the local communities. These hotels also tend to be the ones sourcing local ingredients for their meals from local farms -- or vineyards. 

Our local trip leaders also help facilitate a connection to the language and community with their stories and insights. One of our wax technicians, for example, is a PhD snow and glacier scientist. In addition to waxing fast skis, he also shares insights with our travelers about the impacts of climate change in the Alps using his research on glaciers, such as the Dachstein in Ramsau, Austria. The environmental impacts of travel are certainly significant, but if you are going to travel, we believe in doing so sustainably and exchanging cultural experiences in the process.

Hopefully these ideas inspire your own sustainability practices as you plan your next ski adventure, whether that’s out your door or across the ocean.

See you on the trail,
Garrott Kuzzy