Replying to Environmental impact of indoor skiing
With new indoor resorts opening across the world and more in the works for the US, I was wondering if anyone knew how the energy consumption and environmental impact of indoor resorts compares to those of a traditional outdoor resort? Obviously the indoor resorts are on a significantly smaller scale, but they also use far less water for snowmaking as it does not endure the typical melt cycle that a traditional resort goes through at the end of a season. Depending on the location of the indoor ski area, I assume it takes a huge amount of energy to keep the area cooled during the warmer months. I wonder how this total amount of energy needed to keep it running year round compares to a place that could be running 20 or more lifts and operating a fleet of machinery to keep everything in good shape during the winter plus the maintenance required to get everything ready for the following season. I feel like with the way winter is changing, there will be more indoor resorts popping up over the next 25 years.
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