• Incorporate sustainability into all aspects of our resorts
• Lead by example, and educate employees and guests about sustainability
• Place collaboration over competition when it comes to sustainability
• Advocate for climate protection

We will address the following priorities in our operations:

Climate Change: Action & Advocacy
Track, target and reduce carbon emissions; support climate policy that will result in broad-scale carbon emission reductions, promote energy innovation, and support the transition to a clean energy economy.

Energy
Implement energy efficiency measures, increase the use of renewable energy, and support decarbonization of the grid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change impacts.

Waste
Manage waste in a manner that reduces or eliminates greenhouse gas emissions and protects natural resources.

Transportation
Promote transportation initiatives that ease congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including support of electric and low emission vehicles.

Education & Outreach
Take a leadership role in sustainability education and outreach.

Supply Chain
Source energy, materials and services with low or no carbon footprint and encourage suppliers to decarbonize.

Water
Value water as a natural resource by using it as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Design & Construction
Design and construct facilities and trails to minimize impacts and complement the natural landscape.

Forest Health & Habitat
Be responsible stewards of fish and wildlife habitats and managing the forests and vegetation that support ecosystems, exceptional public recreation opportunities, and carbon sinks for greenhouse gasses.

We strive to support local organizations that bring a positive impact to our shared community and environment.

NSAA Climate Challenge

How did we measure our greenhouse gas emissions?
We reviewed our direct emissions - from buildings, vehicles, and heavy machinery, as well as our indirect emissions - from the electricity that we purchase and the waste that we send to the landfill.

What did we learn?
The greatest contributors to our carbon footprint:

• Diesel to fuel snowcats, heavy machinery and snowmaking compressors
• Propane and electricity to power our buildings and facilities

What’s next?
By 2030, we pledge to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 30 metric tons of CO².

We can achieve our goal by investing in fuel-saving and energy-efficient upgrades across Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge, and by taking a closer look at our coperations to find additional opportunities for improvement in the coming years.

NSAA Sustainable Slopes

We are lucky to be part of a vast community of skiers and riders across the United States – more than 10 million. We share an appreciation for outdoor spaces, and an awareness of how it impacts our livelihoods and our communities. We can be leaders in climate action and advocacy by engaging our networks in conversations about expanding clean energy options, advancing climate legislation, and growing a more sustainable economy. You can join us by supporting groups that make sustainability a priority.

Learn about and support sustainability initiatives at ski areas across the country, through the National Ski Areas Association’s Sustainable Slopes Program: nsaa.org/sustainableslopes

Purchasing Power

We purchase our employee uniform hats from bigtruck®, a trucker hat brand based in Truckee. As a Certified B Corporation®, bigtruck® prioritizes their long-term commitments to community, employees, customers, and the environment.

“We at bigtruck® look to work with the best partners we can. Being a Truckee-based company and living and playing in the Sierra Mountain playground allows us to live by our “fun first” standards. When we had a chance to partner with Sugar Bowl on some employee hats, we jumped at the opportunity. Not only do we have amazing synergies with our Sierra resort partners, but we have a special attachment to Sugar Bowl! How they operate the resort, treat employees, and offer a gold standard experience to every guest that visits them is very special. At bigtruck® we feel every new hat offers a new adventure, just like each time you ski Sugar Bowl.

Cheers from bigtruck®

James Clifford, Head of Brand”

Climate Transformation Alliance

Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge participates in the Climate Transformation Alliance, which is a Truckee-Tahoe area charter started in 2022 to bring together local governments, special districts, community organizations, businesses, and individuals in achieving regional carbon neutrality by 2045. Together with the Climate Transformation Alliance, Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge is committed to addressing the climate-related risks that face our region by developing community-wide sustainable solutions in transportation, utility management, waste, wildfire mitigation, and culture change.

Visit Truckee-Tahoe

In 2022, Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge joined Visit Truckee-Tahoe’s Sustainable Tourism Advisory Committee. Developed in 2022, VTT’s Sustainable Tourism program sets out to protect the region’s vital tourism economy in a way that prepares our community for a more resilient and sustainable future. As leaders in the Truckee-Tahoe tourism industry, we seek to embrace and share our region’s recreation opportunities, while addressing the strains of tourism on the local community and environment.

Community Partnerships

This season, Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge partnered with several non-profits in the community, incuding Excellence in Education, High Fives Foundation, Sierra Avalanche Center, Donner Summit Avalanche Dogs amoung others, to support thier outreach and raise over $20,000. Thanks to the partnerships, guests and passholders are exposed to the amazing work and volunteer opportunities within each of these community organizations.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

Annunally we are tracking our greehouse gas emissions so we can set targets for reduction. GHG emissions year-over-year coming soon so your, the public, can hold us accountable to our goals.

LED Light Fixtures

To improve the energy efficiency of our operations, Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge is transitioning to all-LED light fixtures. LED lighting puts out the same amount of light as CFL lighting at nearly half the energy usage. While it is a small step, we believe that every effort to reduce energy consumption is worthwhile as we seek to lower our carbon impact. In 2022, all fixtures in the Sugar Bowl Vehicle Maintenance Shop were upgraded to LED lighting. We seek to continuously upgrade our lighting fixtures until we achieve 100% LED lighting.

The threat of wildfire destruction is extant in our region, and it is our responsibility to ensure that our community is prepared.

Firewise USA

The Sugar Bowl Village is a Firewise community and a member of the broader Placer County Fire Safe Alliance, since 2019.
As a member community, we conduct annual defensible space audits around all community buildings, including Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge buildings, and help our fellow community members to maintain fire safety compliance.

Summer 2022-2023 Forest Health Project

During the summers of 2022 and 2023, Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge is managing a 96-acre forest health and wildfire resiliency project. With an initial plan to treat 72 acres of forested land, we have been fortunate to receive Measure T grant funds to cover an additional 32 acres, increasing project benefits by 50%.

Measure T is administered by Truckee Fire Protection District. Revenues from Measure T are intended to fund programs and projects that reduce the threat and intensity of wildfire in the Truckee and Donner Summit Wildland Urban Interface by reducing fuel loads and better preparing the community for wildfire. Projects are strategically placed in order to moderate the movement of wildfire, provide safer access to suppression activities, and ultimately facilitate the protection of life and property in our region.

With the support of Measure T, Truckee Fire, and a local forestry contractor, Wilderness Forestry, we are removing dead and dying trees, thinning excessively crowded tree growth, and removing ground-level brush and tree limbs. This project will have many positive ecological outcomes: promoting healthier living trees, particularly in a time of drought; slowing the spread of forest maladies and pests, such as bark beetle; and protecting the Donner Summit community from the threat of destructive wildfire by reducing ground-level fuels and ladder fuels, and keeping fire movement low and slow.

To to reduce our landfill waste, we are committed to expanding our waste management efforts, through responsible disposal of recyclables, organic waste, hazardous waste, and maximizing the use of a product.

Reducing Single-Use Plastics

Sugar Bowl | Royal Gorge is committed to eliminating single-use plastics in dining spaces. We have replaced plastic beverage bottles with aluminum beverage cans and our to-go containers are made of compostable paper.

We encourage employees and guests to use reusable beverage containers whenever possible and have invested in seven water refill stations located in public spaces around the resort. Since their installation in November 2021, we have saved approximately 110,000 16-oz. plastic bottles from going to the landfill.