Canyon cleanup.
Little Cottonwood Canyon is a unique environment to experience. With dramatic, glacier-cut walls, incredible snow in the winter and breath-taking wildflowers in the summer, we are dedicated to protecting it for generations to come.
Since 1981, Little Cottonwood Canyon hundreds of residents and employees have come together annually for Little Cottonwood Cleanup Day. This not only builds community, but removes trash from our environment and watershed—giving back to the land that gives so much to us.
Breathe Easy
Snowbird initiated the R.I.D.E. Program (Reducing Individual Driving for the Environment) for the 2016/2017 season to incentivize guests and employees to choose alternative transportation to the resort besides driving on their own vehicles. Through the efforts of the R.I.D.E. program, more than 250,000 pounds of carbon dioxide have been kept out of the atmosphere this past winter, which is equivalent to not consuming 43,000 gallons of gas.
The Air is Cleaner Up Here
Snowbird became an “Idle Free” resort in the fall of 2016, with added signage around the resort asking our guests and staff to “Turn Your Key, Be Idle Free". Snowbird continues its partnership with the Utah Atmospheric Trace Gas & Air Quality Lab to monitor air quality at the top of Hidden Peak as a background comparison site to valley monitoring locations, and make this data readily available online.
Since 1993, Snowbird and TreeUtah have been improving air and water quality together, one tree at a time. Snowbird works tirelessly to improve the quality of the water and the vegetation not only around the resort, but throughout Little Cottonwood and American Fork Canyons. Snowbird continues to conduct resort-wide revegetation programs by planting approximately 2,000 native species seedlings every summer.
Buy a Pass, Plant a Tree. Play Forever.
At Snowbird, we intend to Play Forever. We believe there is nothing better for the soul than to live a balanced life full of adventure, and we believe those in the future should have the same opportunities we have today. To make this happen, Snowbird is committed to doing all we can to protect the environment and enable participation in adventure. Snowbird and Nokian Tyres – Snowbird's longstanding official tire partner –understand today’s environmental challenges, and through a shared commitment to protect our environment, Snowbird and Nokian Tyres are committed to inspiring environmental action and reducing our carbon footprint. As part of this commitment, we’ve partnered with Nokian Tyres, a global leader in sustainability, to plant a tree for every 2022-23 qualifying season pass sold through September 28, 2022. That includes all qualifying season passes purchased prior to September 28.
Trees are an incredibly important part of life on earth, and planting trees will create benefits for people, nature and wildlife for years to come as Snowbird continues to Play Forever. Planting trees is one of the best nature-based solutions to restoring forests, sequestering carbon and mitigating the effects of climate change.
Snowbird will work with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organization with a focus on reforestation whose main mission is to make it as simple as possible for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. POWDR and Nokian Tyres will fund tree-planting efforts in national parks around the United States, helping travelers enjoy beautiful journeys at popular destinations for years to come. Through this initiative, Snowbird continues its commitment to Play Forever and Nokian Tyres’ commitment to helping save the world’s winters for tomorrow’s generation.
Together we've already be able to plant 50,000 trees on behalf of all POWDR resort passholders during the previous season. Learn more about Nokian Tyres.
Slow The Flow
Did you know that about 75% of water in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt? As a protected drinking water source, it is important that Snowbird helps promote water conservation by making decisions that save water while engaging and educating our guests to do the same. We are proud to partner with the Slow the Flow program to help teach people that what runs off of Snowbird today may end up in your tap tomorrow.
We continue to improve on our water conservation efforts around the resort, recently adding an option for guests at The Cliff Lodge to not have their sheets and towels changed as frequently, using less water and electricity by not washing these items daily.
Upon Snowbird's inception in the early 1970's, we built a seven-mile sewer system down Little Cottonwood Canyon, connecting to a waste water treatment facility in Salt Lake City, instead of using less expensive, but environmentally risky septic tanks.
Mary Ellen Gulch
When Snowbird acquired land in Mary Ellen Gulch, we knew there was work to be done. As we have done in the past, we partnered with Trout Unlimited in the summer of 2018 to do a watershed restoration project on some historic abandoned mines in American Fork Canyon. By working with Tread Lightly! and the Forest Service, we strive to protect human and environmental health, while finding ways to meet the various desires of different user groups. The work to restore this area continues today.
Fresh Taste Without Waste - Mountain Tap Water
We installed water bottle fill stations throughout the resort, decreasing the use of plastic water bottles and showcasing Little Cottonwood Canyon’s delicious mountain tap water.
Employ-Bees
In the summer of 2019, Snowbird stationed honeybee hives in Mineral Basin in an effort to better support pollinators in the Wasatch. Besides just being proud members of the “Beehive State”, Snowbird found an opportunity to use the land we operate on to cultivate more opportunities for pollinators, which are essential to creating and maintaining healthy ecosystems. We’ve since expanded our hives to include other areas of the resort. So next time you spend the day at Snowbird enjoying the wildflowers, or a sweet dessert in one of our restaurants, know that the honeybees spent their day buzzing around Snowbird too.
Play Forever Donations
The Snowbird Play Forever Fund was created to provide funding in support of our community successfully navigating challenging times and continuing to thrive for generations to come.