Skiing for the Future: Where the Mountains Are Leading on Sustainability

Skiing has always held a special place in the travel imagination: crisp alpine air, the whoosh of a perfect turn, quiet mornings on pristine pistes. Yet in a changing climate, the joy of winter sport is increasingly intertwined with questions that go far beyond technique and snow quality.

As Virtuoso recently highlighted, a new generation of mountain destinations is responding to those questions head-on — pushing beyond mere winter leisure to become custodians of place and climate-aware stewards of their environments.

This shift isn’t about questioning the future of skiing — it’s about reimagining it in ways that are resilient, responsible and aligned with our evolving values as travellers.

Rethinking Ski Travel: Sustainability on the Slopes

The carbon footprint of a ski holiday is shaped by many factors, from flight emissions to on-mountain energy use. Virtuoso’s research points out that transport alone — if it involves long flights and taxi transfers — can account for a startling 50–75% of a ski trip’s total emissions.

Choosing resorts that can be reached via electrified rail, or travelling in an electric vehicle charged with low-carbon power, immediately reduces impact. Renting gear rather than buying brand-new kit is another practical way to shrink a trip’s footprint.

But the deeper transformation is happening at the resorts themselves.

Mountain Leaders in Responsible Snow Sport

Across Europe and North America, ski destinations are pioneering practices that go well beyond cosmetic eco-labels.

France’s Tarentaise Axis

Resorts like Val d’Isère and Les Menuires have shifted their fleets — from snow groomers to shuttle buses — to low-carbon or renewable fuels, slashing significant emissions associated with daily mountain operations.

Zermatt, Switzerland

The car-free village at the foot of the Matterhorn is powered largely by hydroelectric and solar energy, and its lifts, cable cars and cog-railway draw on the same low-carbon grid. Even photovoltaic cells at high altitude yield exceptional energy returns.

St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria

Here, a fully renewable rail link brings travellers right into the heart of the resort. Local energy systems — from hydroelectric generation to biomass heating — are reducing the town’s carbon footprint in ways that extend well off the slopes.

Park City, USA

On the other side of the Atlantic, Park City has welcomed a major solar farm, supplying clean electricity and moving toward a target of 100% renewable power for the town’s grid.

Saas-Fee, Switzerland

The car-free alpine village pairs low-impact transport with innovative geothermal community heating and electric bus networks — proof that small, remote communities can be leaders in sustainable mountain tourism.

Beyond the Snow: What This Means for Travellers

There’s an elegance in how these resorts approach sustainability: not as a marketing trend, but as a long-term strategy for safeguarding the very landscapes they depend on. Increasingly, this means prioritising renewable energy, low-impact transport links, and community-centred infrastructure.

For those of us who curate, plan and advise on travel experiences, these developments are invitations — not to turn away from skiing, but to choose where and how we go with purpose and awareness.

I love skiing - it will always deliver exhilaration, scenery and memories that last a lifetime. But the way it looks in 2026 involves a new kind of clarity — one that honours the mountains, the people who live there, and the future of snow itself.

Where have you or will you be hitting the slopes this season?