If you plan to head to the slopes this season and are concerned with mountain ecosystem integrity, you might want to check out The Ski Area Citizens' Coalition web site.

The SACC is composed of four groups, Colorado Wild, the Crystal Conservation Coalition (Washington State), Friends of the Inyo (California) and The Sierra Nevada Alliance (California). They produce a yearly report on the environmental friendliness of ski resorts in ten Western United States (California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Utah).

They rate ski resorts using 9 different criteria, with each criteria weighed proportionately to their importance in the coalition's overall vision of a green ski resort. The SACC notes that nine out of ten ski resorts in the west are on public land managed by the Forest Service. Approximately one-half of their criteria address public land management issues connected to ski area development. They also address issues more connected to the day to day operation of the ski area, such as water and waste management.

The coalition recently released their rankings for the 2008-2009 ski season.

All the resorts that made the top 10 rankings listed below received an A grade. The first two resorts listed, Aspen Mountain and Buttermilk are repeat visitors to the top two spots.

• Aspen Mountain Ski Resort, CO (85.7%)
• Buttermilk Mountain Ski Resort, CO (85.2%)
• Sundance Resort, UT (82.2%)
• Park City Mountain Resort, UT (79.1%)
• Squaw Valley USA, CA (78.3%)
• Alpine Meadows Ski Area, CA (77.4%)
• Aspen Highlands Ski Resort, CO (76.7%)
• Bogus Basin Mountain Resort, ID (74.8%)
• Mount Bachelor Ski Area, OR (74.8%)
• Telluride Ski Resort, CO (74.3%)

The ten ski resorts at the bottom of the list are shown in order of performance. The first seven resorts listed received an F grade. The last three received a D grade.

• Copper Mountain Ski Resort CO (31.9%)
• Sun Valley Resort, ID (34.3%)
• Tamarack Resort, ID (35.6%)
• Breckenridge Ski Resort, CO (36.1%)
• Mt. Spokane Ski and Snowboard Park, WA (37.4%)
• Arizona Snowbowl, AZ (38.6%)
• 49 Degrees North Resort, WA (39.9%)
• White Pass Ski Area, WA (41.3%)
• Brundage Mountain Resort, ID (41.8%)
• Crystal Mountain Ski Area, WA (45.6%)

The ski resort industry has also been promoting their own green agenda through a policy called Sustainable Slopes. The Sustainable Slopes program is more limited in scope than the SACC program. It generally focuses on practical issues associated with resort management such as best practices in the water and waste management areas. You can find additional information about the sustainable practices of the Western ski resorts of your choice at their web site.