FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PACIFIC GROUP RESORTS, INC. JOINS NSAA CLIMATE CHALLENGE
All five PGRI resorts have signed on for the industry effort to promote sustainable slopes
PARK CITY, UTAH – When the National Ski Areas Association put out the call for member resorts to join the NSAA Climate Challenge this year, the five ski areas in the Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. portfolio answered with a resounding, “Yes.” NSAA’s Climate Challenge initiative has been around for several years, and more regional destination resorts are starting to be in a position to join industry stalwarts such as Deer Valley Resort, Alta, and Snowbird in the efforts to reduce energy usage and thus carbon emissions.
Vern Greco, CEO of Pacific Group Resorts, Inc., indicated in his letter of notice to the Director of Public Policy for NSAA, Geraldine Link, that each of the PGRI properties had named a “sustainability champion” who would be leading the efforts at the resorts and a steering committee to help guide the directives on the ground. He also indicated each committee had drafted the initial list of actions to be executed over the next several years to reduce waste and energy usage with the objective of eventually getting to a carbon neutral footprint. Ms. Link’s emailed response was enthusiastic, “NSAA is excited to see all these ski areas enter the Climate Challenge. It is awesome!”
Mark K. Fischer, Executive Vice President of Pacific Group Resorts noted the PGRI properties are approaching the NSAA Climate Challenge as a collaborative effort involving guests as well as resort operations. “We can reduce idling time for our groomers and buses, and we can buy carbon credits and plant trees and recycle and compost. We can even ask our suppliers to reduce the amount of cardboard used when they ship items to us, but those efforts won’t get us all the way to our goal. As part of our sustainability effort, we will be communicating with our guests and educating them in how they can help by respecting the no idling zones in our drop off areas and making sure they participate in the recycling programs and use refillable water bottles instead of single use plastic containers. Our pitch to them is pretty simple – we’re all in this together, so let’s all pitch in.”
Greco is an established supporter of environmentally sustainable programs in the ski industry in Utah and Colorado. “The health of the environment is something I have been sensitive to for a long time going back to my time on NSAA’s Board of Directors a couple decades ago when I served on the environmental committee. I’m very pleased we’ve been able to bring the five Pacific Group Resorts properties to the point where they can collectively be a meaningful contributor to NSAA’s Climate Challenge efforts.”
ABOUT PACIFIC GROUP RESORTS
Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. (PGRI) is a Park City, Utah based owner/operator of ski and mountain resorts. PGRI owns/operates Powderhorn Mountain Resort on the Grand Mesa of western Colorado, Mt. Washington Alpine Resort on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island in western Canada, Wintergreen Resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Wisp Resort in the Appalachian Mountains of western Maryland, and Ragged Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Among the five ski resorts in the PGRI portfolio, there are also 81 holes of championship golf, 19 clay tennis courts, three indoor courts, four pools, a private lake, a whitewater course that hosted the 2014 Whitewater World Championships, two mountain adventure parks, more than 30 snow-tubing lanes, three lift served mountain bike parks, a spa, 17 retail outlets, 24 food & beverage establishments, and 450 lodging units. A major peak-to-peak-to-base ZipTour will open this July at Mt. Washington Alpine Resort. More information on Pacific Group Resorts, Inc. and their portfolio of properties is available at www.pgri.us.
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