ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES

More than 80 years of mankind and nature living in harmony.

At Sunshine Village, we work and play in the heart of Banff National Park, an area so special, it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sunshine and Parks Canada are in constant contact to ensure this popular recreational activity has minimal impact on this unique location. Sunshine uses a comprehensive and holistic approach to minimize its footprint on the environment. From water conservation to employee and guest awareness, every aspect of operations is in keeping with the highest standards of environmental stewardship.

Water:

Sunshine Village is a leader in water management and conservation. In the spring of 2002, Sunshine began an ongoing initiative to maximize the efficiency of its water supply and sewage treatment capacities. All on-mountain buildings (day lodges, hotel, and staff accommodations) were refitted with high efficiency fixtures. As a result, water use per skier visit has been reduced 29 per cent. On peak days, per-skier water use is down 38 per cent. Some of our water conservation practices include:

• Caroma dual flush toilets and water-free urinals;
• Replacing all showerheads with high efficiency models;
• Replacing all faucet aerators with low-flow versions;
• Installing metering faucets in public washrooms; and
• Training of management and staff in efficient water use.

Sunshine Village switched to low-flow fixtures to reduce the cost of water treatment filtration cartridges and the amount of chlorine needed for disinfecting. We also reduced the load on the watershed treatment plant and therefore the discharge of treated effluent. In late 2008, Sunshine also completed an upgrade at the water filtration plant that further improves the quality of the effluent.

Water efficiency is particularly important because of our limited reservoir capacity. When reserves are low, water needs to be pumped almost three kilometres from a lake in British Columbia. The licence from B.C. Parks also limits the amount we can pump.

Sunshine also gets the guests involved in conservation: we post signs in every bathroom and discuss our environmental initiatives on our website (skibanff.com).

We don't make snow; we farm it

Being situated high atop the continental divide provides Sunshine with an average of nine metres (30 feet) of Canada's Best Snow annually, which reduces the need for snowmaking to next to nothing. For safety reasons, Sunshine Village operates two snow guns for the lower ski-out and the ski and snowboard school beginner areas at the beginning of the season. Once a base is developed, the snowmakers are turned off for the remainder of the season.

Instead, Sunshine Village's trail crew strings more 30 kilometres of snow-fencing. Placed perpendicular to the prevailing winds, the fencing captures snow and builds the base without the need for artificial means.

Buildings

When our buildings are upgraded, they are brought to the latest environmental standards, reducing our total energy footprint. The star of this change is the new Sunshine Mountain Lodge wing, scheduled to open in November 2009.

The new Sunshine Mountain Lodge will feature:

• State-of-the-art construction techniques
• Reuse of materials, where possible
• Passive solar through high efficiency windows to maximize heat gain
• A 44% reduction in water use
• A 20% reduction in energy consumption
• No increase in the footprint over the structure it is replacing
• Natural stone and a colour palette chosen to be in harmony with its surroundings
• Site remediation and planting of natural vegetation

Vehicles and Transportation

Sunshine Village operates top-of-the-line vehicles for its operations including its snow-cat fleet. Upgrading our vehicles allows us to take advantage of the most fuel-efficient models, thus reducing emissions. Our snowmobiles are all low-emission four-stroke models, and this year Sunshine bought its first hybrid Escape four-by-four.

Sunshine Village provides its staff with free bus transportation from Canmore and Banff to the mountain, thus lowering fuel emissions. It also encourages guests in Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise to utilize its bussing service to cut down on emissions.

Recycling

Sunshine recycles all beverage containers, paper, cardboard, metal and many other items. Butt-out containers are also available around the mountain, to reduce cigarette litter.

Trails

Our trail crew reclaims and rehabilitates all damaged or disturbed areas. Our re-vegetation efforts post-development are also excellent, ensuring erosion does not occur. We use the most progressive construction techniques available when working in the fragile alpine, doing much of the heavy work on the protective blanket of snow and by employing helicopters to lift in towers and material. When we replace a lift, we often sell the old lift whole to another area for reuse, or carefully separating its components for use as parts or scrap metal. Our old gondola, for example, found a new home in Iran as an example of this recycling effort.

Employee Awareness

Sunshine employees continuously seek to balance the best in human enjoyment with the best in sustainable conservation. Our hundreds of employees are people who live, work and play here because they love their mountain environment. Our employees are actively encouraged to adopt an ethic of superior environmental stewardship and are provided with the resources they need to make a difference. This includes the promotion of car-pooling and mass transportation, sustainable building techniques, land reclamation, spring seeding, resource conservation, and ecologically sound ski area operations.

In addition to the year-round collection of litter, Sunshine holds an annual clean-up of all foreign debris left on the mountain. This major annual project involves Sunshine employees and the local ski community.

Wildlife

Sunshine Village is located at the tree line or above which minimizes our impact on the fauna of the area.

Sunshine's Environmental Awards

Sunshine uses a holistic approach to preserving the environment, and it has been recognized for its accomplishments.

In 2006, Sunshine earned two prestigious accolades. The first was the Silver Eagle Award for Excellence in Water Conservation by the National Ski Areas Association, which represents 326 resorts across North America.

Sunshine was also named the first resort in North America to be awarded the Responsible Tourism Award from Neilson Active Holidays.

In 2008, Sunshine earned the prestigious Heritage Tourism Award by Banff Heritage Tourism for our unprecedented efforts to teach workers about the special environmental uniqueness of Banff National Park. Banff Heritage Tourism is a partnership between Parks Canada, the Town of Banff and Banff Lake Louise Tourism. Its mission is that every visitor experiences, and is inspired by, the authentic heritage of Banff National Park.