Absolute Alps Holidays Ski Blog

Nowadays there is great pressure on everyone from individuals to companies to carry out their business in as eco-friendly way as possible, and the mountain ski resort of Chatel is doing its part to try to keep its environment as healthy as possible.

Chatel has signed up to the Sustainable Development Charter to commit to making sustainable development their central organising principle, which has produced the following initiatives.

• Selective Recycling Bins – spread conveniently throughout the resort there are groups of rubbish recycle bins for glass / paper / tins.
• Burying Utilities Networks – it is resort policy now to bury all utility cables (electricity / telephone) underground to minimise their visual impact
• Using Low-Energy LED Lighting – Chatel has an annual display of lights and decorations around the resort to add to its winter wonderland charm and impress the tourists on their winter skiing holidays. All these illuminations now use LED lighting which has significantly lower energy demands
• Free Chatel Bus – over both the winter and summer season there is a free bus service around the resort to enable both tourists and local to leave their cars at home. Reducing emissions and congestion alike.
• Cleaner Piste Grooming Machines – every evening throughout the winter season the fleet of piste grooming machines carry out their carefully choreographed sweep of the mountains to prepare all pistes for the following day. Having modern and efficient machines means less impact on the environment.
• Protecting Springs – the water in the mountains is an important commodity (the town of Evian is at the foot of the our mountains and is world-renowned for producing excellent quality water), every effort is made to protect springs and natural water courses.
• Carefully Maintained Landscape – the routes of the pistes cutting down the mountains are carefully planned and a program of scrub clearance, soil improvement and revegetation is carried out in collaboration with the local farmers. During the summer the mountains are pasture to the local cows, their milk is used to produce the local Abondance cheese.
• Providing Waste Bins – both in the resort and on the mountain waste bins are conveniently located to reduce littering. Even ash-trays have been provided at the bottom of the ski lifts and an advertising campaign run to encourage people to act responsibly with their cigarette butts.
• Annual Spring Mountain Clean Up – each year after the winter holidaymakers have gone home and the snow has melted the lift company organise a mountain clean up day, in return for the volunteers efforts they provide a barbecue. The aim is to collect up all the rubbish dropped by visitors on the mountain throughout the winter, at the end of the day there is usually a large collection of piste maps / gloves / ski poles / goggles / sweet wrappers.
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