When life gives you poop, make…snow? At least, that’s what some ski resorts in Montana are planning to do.
Big Sky Resort, with over 5,800 skiable acres, announced that it will be the first public ski area in the state to convert treated water into skiable snow. The Ikon Pass mountain follows a similar sustainable snowmaking initiative put forth by the Yellowstone Club, a private, invitation-only ski community in Big Sky whose guest list includes the likes of Bill Gates, Justine Timberlake, and Jessica Alba.
According to Big Sky Resort, there are more than a dozen other ski areas across eight states that use recycled water for snowmaking. Ski resorts in Canada, Switzerland, and Australia are doing the same.
Big Sky Resort told Outside that the project will be built out in two phases, the first of which will use up to 23 million gallons of recycled water each year from “Big Sky’s new state-of-the-art water treatment facility, which produces the highest reclaimed water classification recognized by the State of Montana.” The Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, a private residential club at the resort, will create a base layer of snow on the Spirit and Andesite Mountains. Passholders can access these areas through two public lifts, Southern Comfort and Sacajawea. During the second phase, up to 44 million gallons of water will be used each year from the broader Big Sky community.
Supporters of the initiative say this initiative will help fill in the gaps where natural snow is not available.
“We are seeing less snowpack each year, and I have heard from several ski areas across Montana that are also interested in this technology. I am hopeful recycled snowmaking will become the standard practice someday in our headwater state,” said Rich Chandler, vice president of Environmental Operations for Lone Mountain Land Company, which owns Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, in a statement emailed to Outside.
Other environmental groups, including Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, have also written letters in support of the project.
Daniel Roditis (Lil’ Dan, to his friends) is a lift maintenance technician at Big Sky with ten years of experience in the industry. He says that the transition is a “well-timed, sincere initiative that finds common ground.”
“A cumulative 65 million gallons of water isn’t just water under the bridge, even for America’s most skiable acreage,” said Roditis. “I’ve personally worked in the reclaimed snow here at the club as a snowmaker—there is no perceivable difference in snow quality whatsoever.”
“It passes everything but the taste test,” said Roditis. All jokes aside, the water doesn’t actually taste or smell like poop.
That’s because the used water undergoes an extensive reclaimation process. Since 2012, snowmaking has been an approved use of reclaimed water, according to a statement Big Sky Resort sent to Outside. The state regulates the snowmaking process using recycled water to a higher standard than traditional snowmaking processes.
And if you’re wondering whether this means it’s OK to do your dirty business off-trail, the answer is: No.
“We’re skiing blues and blacks here, not browns. Help us keep it that way,” said Roditis.
The post This Is the Latest Ski Resort to Turn Poop into Snow appeared first on Outside Online.
