Bridger Bowl is showing its fall colors, and while the slopes aren’t ready for skiers and snowboarders yet, the mountain is ready to make this ski season more sustainable.
Bonnie Hickey is the Sustainability Director at Bridger Bowl, a non-profit ski hill near Bozeman.
“Even though we are growing, to do it in a way that is less impactful,” said Hickey.
In a first-of-its-kind position, Hickey is focused on a multi-effort approach to making the ski hill more environmentally-friendly—from solar panels to plant based ski wax. Looking at snow-sport specific impacts:
“Hand warmers are not recyclable, they go in the trash, and I have been talking to hand warmer companies about improving that,” Hickey said.
Recently she has focused on waste reduction, which includes encouraging composting and recycling on the mountain. In preparation for the upcoming season, new color-coded waste sorting stations are waiting in the food court to be distributed throughout the lodge.
Efforts also include a 50 kW solar array midway up the mountain that provides about 3% of the total energy need and a shift to LED and motion activated lighting.
“It’s quite a savings, both in terms of energy cost, but also greenhouse gas emissions,” Hickey said.
Even the rental and repair shop is seeing changes, swapping out a petroleum based ski wax for a plant based wax.
Bridger Bowl was recently recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts toward clean water and clean energy. Bridger was named one of three winners of the 2024 Regional Pollution Prevention Awards.
“That was really, really thrilling, to be recognized for the work that we are doing,” Hickey said.
