Hello again! Thanks for taking the time to visit our blog, we're glad you're here! I'd like to start by sharing a memory... When I was around 4 years old, my dad took me and my brother to Stevens Pass Ski Resort for the first time. Dad had worked as a lift operator at Crystal Mountain Ski Resort through much of the 80's, and since I was born and raised just a few miles from there, Crystal is what I always considered to be my "home mountain". This day that we visited Stevens Pass had a massive impact on me and the trajectory of my skiing career. I vividly remember being a wobbly toddler, lapping the rope tow for hours. Every lap, I would try to go quicker than the round before, racing the passer-by riders as they made their way to Hogsback or Skyline. I remember how I felt so in control. I had mastered this tiny hill and people were high fiving me and saying things like "you got it dude!", or "nice job buddy!". At that moment, 1997, I fell in love with skiing. Also at that moment, I fell in love with Stevens Pass. A little later in life, circumstances led me to living closer to Stevens Pass than any other ski resort. I spent so much of my teenage years jump turning into Shim's Meadow, navigating the steep trees of Wild Katz, and traversing for first tracks towards the natural halfpipe... Stevens Pass had become my "home mountain". I've always been proud to call Stevens Pass my "home mountain" for many reasons, but I am particularly proud that they have always made decisions to address the impact they are making on the environment. Deciding to do something about an issue instead of ignoring the problem to increase profit margins is an honorable act. I respect Stevens Pass for their decisions to embrace renewable energy sources such as wind power, and their amazing feat of diverting 70% of their waste from entering the landfill. In 1997 I visited Stevens Pass for the first time. Also in 1997, Stevens Pass was winning it's first (of many) awards from the National Ski Areas Association regarding sustainability and environmental protection. Check it out! - - - 2017 – 3rd Runner up for NSAA national Golden Eagle award. 2012 – Winner! – Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence For energy conservation and greenhouse gas reduction programs 2012 – Winner – Recognizing us as one of the top 50 sustainable business in the state; something no other ski resort has achieved 2012 – Winner – Recycler of The Year, Recreation Category 2011 – Finalist – Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence For our Electric Vehicle program, and dramatic food waste composting expansion 2010 – Finalist – Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence For our comprehensive mtn stewardship and carbon footprint reduction efforts 2009 – Finalist – Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence For our windpower commitment, mass transit options, and efficiency efforts 2009 – Finalist – Silver Eagle Award for Excellence in Waste Reduction & Recycling For our greatly expanded industrial, public, and hazmat recycling program 2008 – Finalist – Silver Eagle Award for Visual Impact For general resort aesthetics 2004 – Winner Silver Eagle Award for Excellence in Water Conservation For state-of-the-art Membrane Bioreactor wastewater treatment plant 2003 – Finalist Silver Eagle Award for Energy Conservation/Clean Energy For guest and employee mass transit options 2000 – Finalist Silver Eagle Award for Visual Impact For Granite Peaks day lodge and base area design 1997 – Winner Silver Eagle Award for Excellence in Fish & Wildlife Habitat Protection For fish habitat protection during Skyline Express chairlift construction (Stevens Pass - Sustainability) - - - I encourage you to visit Stevens Pass' website to learn more about the work they are doing/ have done to reduce their contribution to climate change. I also highly suggest that you support ski resorts like Stevens Pass who are making a difference in our mountain communities!! www.stevenspass.com/the-mountain/more-options/sustainability.aspx Thanks,
Glen Carnes Director of Clean Summits
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Hello again, First, I'd like to sincerely thank you for taking the time to learn more about my initiative, and would deeply appreciate your feedback concerning the work and provided information. On my last blog post, I presented a problem statement. Today, I would like to share some information about our vision and execution surrounding how I plan on addressing the forementioned problem. Clean Summits is an initiative to promote clean energy and sustainability practices within the mountain community. By emphasizing honesty and accountability, our partnerships aim to restore our environment and help reduce the impact ski resorts have on climate change. LEARN Become educated on the issues, and find out which ski resorts and partners are making a difference. ACT Begin or continue your journey on fighting climate change in the mountains. UNITE Build a network of like-minded people and work with them to share experiences and information. My overall vision is to direct people to resources and information regarding sustainability, and to offer techniques and practices when heading to the mountains. There are many things to consider regarding ski resorts and their environmental impact and being educated and aware could help reduce our individual ecological footprint. Skiers and snowboarders tend to have a special connection with the environment. When these people that the sport they love contributes to rapid climate change, there is opportunity for community education and restoration. - Glen Carnes
Director of Clean Summits November 2022 Hello there,
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about our initiative. I would like to first provide a brief backstory on the development and creation of our initiative, and how the idea was conceptualized. Clean Summits began as an individually assigned project for a Strategic Communications class, Digital Content Promotion. This class was/is offered at Washington State University Vancouver in the nationally recognized, Murrow College of Communication department, where I obtained my Minor Degree in Communication. Learn More about Edward R. Murrow College of Communication: https://murrow.wsu.edu/ The project focused on conceptualizing and creating specified elements of a promotional campaign throughout the entirety of a semester. This would require students to develop multimedia content which would be distributed on web and social media channels. The learning objectives of the course and project were as follows: “ The main goal of this course is to introduce students to key ideas, principles, and tactics for writing for digital content, creating and executing a digital campaign and understanding core concepts in tracking and measuring the effectiveness of digital communications. Students are introduced to digital campaign planning and project management – challenged on how to establish purposeful and measurable outcomes and trained on the setup, design, delivery, and measurement of various online tools used by practitioners for web development, email outreach, social media engagement and online advertising. Each student will be aligned with an initiative for the duration of the semester. Students will be expected to conceptualize and create specified elements of a promotional campaign, which will include web- and social media-distributed multimedia content. Students will learn to optimize and promote their campaign and content for distribution and discovery on search engines, social networks, mobile devices, and other non-traditional outlets. Best practices will be explored for digital content writing, tagging, metadata creation, social network seeding, community engagement and more. Students will learn the basic data interpretation techniques of the website and social media analytics services that track visitor behavior, page views, keyword, and third-party site referrals. “ - Michelle Galey, Scholarly Assistant Professor, Strategic Communication I quickly recognized the benefit and potential of crafting a brand over the entire length of a semester and wanted to capitalize on the time spent formulating an initiative which not only interested me but could have a long-term impact on the sport and potentially the world. I wanted to choose a topic I was passionate about, so I made a list of my overall interests and ranked them in levels of importance to me, as well as in priority that I feel needed to be addressed most in the corresponding community. The outcome resulted in problem statement concerning a topic I have been passionate about my entire life… The problem that exists in the world of skiing and snowboarding is that ski resorts contribute to climate change immensely. The immense use of fossil fuels, water consumption, deforestation, littering, and wildlife disturbances all negatively impact the environment and may eventually lead to the extinction of snow sports entirely. Please continue to follow along on this journey and highlight the compassion and empathy that exist within the realm of skiing, snowboarding and all mountain activities. - Glen Carnes Director of Clean Summits November 2022 |