More local ski slopes planning to go green.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

The folks whose livelihood depends upon white stuff in the mountains are becoming very "green."

Naturally, ski area operators recognize that global warming is a black cloud on the future of their industry.

That's why the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has been pushing an environmental campaign called "Sustainable Slopes."

More and more ski areas are jumping on board the program, which calls upon ski areas to do what they can to minimize carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Over at Mount Bachelor, for example, the new Pine Mountain Express chairlift is "wind-powered." It joins Bachelor's Sunrise Express lift in being "pollution free."

No, Mount Bachelor didn't install wind turbines on the summit (although it does get quite gusty there at times). Rather, the ski area contracted with Mid-State Electric and the Bonneville Power Administration to purchase enough wind power to operate the two lifts. In essence, the ski resort's owners are voluntarily paying a little extra for electricity in order to support a reduction in the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity.

Of course, most Oregon and Washington ski areas operate on hydroelectric power, generated by dams (which do not produce the greenhouse gases), so the gain may seem more symbolic than substantive.

However, by contracting with wind farms to add more alternative power to the nation's electrical grid, ski areas reduce the need to burn coal or gas at power plants elsewhere.

Emissions from the burning of fossil fuels worldwide are blamed for the perceived climate change that is a hot topic in the ski industry. The wind power purchased by Mount Bachelor keeps more than 850,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere - the equivalent of planting 14,000 trees, according to Jeanette Sherman, the company's communications manager.

In another move to reduce air pollution, Mount Bachelor this year switched its fleet of shuttle buses to "bio-diesel" fuel. The company also intends to have its snow groomers operating on the lower-polluting bio-fuel by next season, Sherman said.

Hoodoo Ski Area began purchasing wind power credits a couple of years ago, said owner Chuck Shepard, and uses biofuel where possible. Hoodoo displays the "Sustainable Slopes" logo on its Web site.

That green power movement is picking up steam at ski areas nationwide, according to the NSAA. Sixteen ski resorts around the country now claim to be getting 100 percent of their power from such energy sources as wind, hydroelectric, solar, bio-mass and geothermal, according to The Associated Press. Thirty others are using clean energy for a portion of their operations.

Michael Berry, president of NSAA, said the ski industry has a natural platform for demonstrating that individuals can make a difference.

"We have a bully pulpit to operate from," he said. "When you think of global warming, the first thing you think of is snowfall and wintertime and how that changes ..."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, spring temperatures in the Sierra Nevada have increased 2 to 3 degrees since 1950, shortening the average ski season by two to three weeks.

Some projections indicate that greenhouse gas emissions could raise Sierra temperatures another 6 degrees by the end of the century, the story said.

Ski areas alone "are not going to defeat global warming, but we can mitigate it," Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association told the Chronicle. "People say you can't do anything about it. That's sophistry.

"I don't think you can make the case for its inevitability and sit back and watch our grandchildren fry."

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].