Loon Mountain is located in New Hampshire, right in the middle of the state and as a part of the White Mountains. If you know anything about New Hampshire, you’ll know that some of the country’s best winter sports take place in the White Mountains.
When you think of skiing; recycling probably isn’t your first visual, but Loon Mountain is looking to change that perception.
Loon Mountain has started a new way of doing things in regards to recycling and energy conservation that should not go unnoticed and will hopefully pave the way for other resorts, all over the world, to follow.
When you think of New Hampshire, the White Mountains, or even the northeastern area of the United States and you picture the area during the winter time, you probably have visions of yummy hot cocoa with tiny marshmellows, hats, mittens and scarves covering as much of a person from Old Mr. Frost, a roaring fire and a foot and a half of snow.
Most of that image is accurate, except, unfortunately, for the snow part. For more than a decade or so the northeast region has not been able to enjoy Mother Nature’s usual assault of blizzard upon blizzard, resulting in a sno-globe fantasy of winter sports.
While there is still an occassional blizzard, and a lot of the White Mountain Resorts are blessed with a foot or so of base snow, it just isn’t like the winters of our grandparent’s generation. What used to fall from the sky without hesitation or exception, for the most part, today, must be manufactured.
While most resorts have to run their snow-making machines there have been advances made in their production to further help with recycling in mind and using energy saving principles.
Loon turned to a new idea in snow-making guns where the gun generates its own compressed air, thereby saving on the energy used to have a compressed air hose as a separate unit.
At one place they have combined one “disconnect” between two of their popular slopes; Little Sister Trail and Loon Mountain Park and will be able to service both trails with the same snow-making apparatus.
Other efforts toward recycling include changing their light bulbs over to compact fluorescent alternatives, which are said to use 75% less energy and last ten times longer than the average light bulb.
Bathrooms now have motion sensors for the lights and fans, so energy is not being used when no one is in the room. New windows and doors have been put in to replace older models that allowed for heat to leak out and the cold northeastern wind to come in.
Let’s take the lead that resorts in New Hampshire have provided and make the changes necessary in our own homes this winter, in the name of recycling and energy-saving efforts. By following the lead set by resorts like the ones on Loon Mountain, you can bet that more resorts will fall in behind, and utilize all of the resources they have in the effort to recycle.
