Sustainability

In 2020 Belleayre and all ORDA resorts have pledged to endorse NSAA’s Sustainable Slopes and incorporate sustainability into all aspects of our operations, lead by example, and educate our guests while advocating for climate protection.

Click through the tabs to learn more on how Belleayre is working to preserve winter for future generations by seeking alternative ways to save resources, reduce waste, and educate our guests.

Join us by reading NSAA’s Skier Sustainability Code and our suggestions on how to become part of the solution!

Energy Efficient Compressors

For the 20-21 Season we added yet another new energy efficient compressor to our snowmaking system! Belleayre has currently replaced 5 older diesel compressors with 1,500 cfm Ingersoll-Rand electric compressors, helping to improve coverage and reduce snowmaking time while reducing our energy consumption.

Electric compressors are more quiet than diesel, allowing the animals in our corner of the 287,500 acre Catskill Forest Preserve a more natural home.

Did you know an electric compressor can consume two to four times less energy to than its diesel counter part? All while eliminating carbon emissions from the compressor itself and those from fuel trucks bringing large deliveries.

Discovery Lodge Lighting

All lighting in the new Discovery Lodge has been upgraded to LED and equipped with motion sensors. An LED motion sensor light is one of the most eco-friendly lighting available today.

An LED, or Light Emitting Diode, is an energy efficient light source used in many applications ranging from camera flashes  to automotive headlights, and even medical devices. They are known for their low energy consumption, smaller size, and long lifespan.

One of the best ways to reduce household energy consumption is to turn off lights in a room when it is not in use. With motion sensors connected to the lights we are able to accomplish that on a larger scale, and we don’t have to remember to shut them off every night! If a hallway or restroom goes unused for an extended period, the lights will automatically shut off until someone walks in, even further reducing our energy consumption and greenhouse gasses. This also allows us to lower the hours used on each LED bulb, increasing their lifespan and creating less waste.

Did you know the average lifespan of an LED bulb is 50 times longer than a typical incandescent bulb? If used for 12 hours a day, an LED bulb will last more than 11 years!

RFID Technology

In 2019 Belleayre introduced RFID technology which offers direct to lift access and online purchasing, so guests can go directly from their car to the slopes. The lift ticket media (or card) can be reused and re-loaded for several years, preventing waste and adding hassle-free convenience for customers.

The RFID, or radio-frequency-identification, chip in the pass tells our lift systems who you are and opens the gate that allows entry to the chairlifts. Not only is it reloadable, you don’t have to fumble in your pockets every time you ride the lift.

Use of this technology allows us to replace paper and plastic lift tickets and disposable wickets with a durable, re-usable card. You can help reduce your environmental impact while skiing and riding by reusing your SKI3 Card year after year. Each SKI3 Card is valid at Belleayre, Gore, and Whiteface.

While this may seem like a small change, with over 150,00 skier visits per year at Belleayre alone, you can imagine the impact on waste!

Creative Repurposing

What better way to honor Belleayre’s history than by repurposing and making it usable again! During the summer of 2020 our in house welder, Darrin, was hard at work creating new uses for the no longer needed chairs from replaced lifts 1 & 2. He has transformed them into benches which you can find around the mountain and along the summit.

This repurposing has made for great photo opportunities for our guests and reduced construction waste!

Before throwing away your old skis, why not come up with ways to repurpose them? Old skis and boards make for great Adirondack style chairs, benches, or a base for some coat hooks!

Education

In the summer of 2020 we added 15 interpretive signs to our hiking and Nordic ski trails in the lower area of the mountain, and added more the following year across the summit! These signs were designed to educate hikers of all ages about the history and nature found in our area.

Hike along our trails to see them and learn about topics like human’s impact on beavers in the Catskills, the history of stone walls, how to identify trees, and more! A key part of sustainability is education, and we hope these signs help you learn and connect with our local area.

Efficient Snowmaking

We are continuously adding more snow guns with the latest technologies to our fleet and upgrading our system to save energy and provide quality coverage on more trails earlier in the season.

Belleayre has upgraded some of our snowmaking fleet to HDK low energy, high performance tower gun nozzles. They offer patented Variable Airflow Technology to deliver stellar snow quality at high temperatures and big production with minimal air consumption at cold temperatures.

The nozzles are mounted at the top of 35′ towers in order to increase the ‘hang time’ of the snow crystals allowing the crystals to partially form on their own, decreasing the dependence on compressed air.

NSAA's Skier Sustainability Code