The Remarkables Ski Area, high above Queenstown and one of New Zealand’s most popular family fields for Kiwi and Australian skiers is taking significant steps to ensure visitors enjoy skiing and snowboarding for years to come.
Reducing its carbon footprint and improving its overall sustainability has become a focus for The Remarkables owners NZSki, which also operates Coronet Peak across the valley, and Mt Hutt in Canterbury. NZSki has a collective company goal of reaching net carbon zero by 2030, for scope one and two emissions, and to reduce emissions by 50 per cent this season alone.
This isn’t lip service: it’s vital for the field’s continued survival and success in a warming world.
The Remarkables Ski Area manager Ross Lawrence says it’s not just about making sure the skifield can continue to operate: “As global warming intensifies, there are certainly disadvantages for our industry – for us, taking action is non-negotiable. It’s not just about the ski field — we want to do the right thing for our community, and our location, and for the world.”
The industry’s highest emissions come from diesel fuel — used to run snow groomers and other machinery on the mountain — and electricity use. Collectively, the three NZSki areas produce approximately 3000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, but new technologies are helping to bring this down.
More efficient, modern diesel engines are being phased in for grooming and the company is looking at a new hybrid groomer, soon to begin a promo tour of the country’s ski fields.
“That’s something we are very keen to look at,” Lawrence says. “Eventually we will move all our groomers to electric if manufacturers can support us in providing the product.”
The use of groomers has also been made more efficient by a GPS- and LiDAR-driven snow-coverage monitoring system (SnowSat). “We can use it to find what the snow cover is across the hill, and therefore reduce the number of times we retrace our steps in each circuit.”
The electric snowmaking machines can also be more accurately targeted on areas with minimal cover and run for less time – while a deal with electricity supplier Meridian means all power used by NZSki is sourced from renewable sources: hydro and wind. This partnership will reduce emissions from the three fields by over 1000 tonnes per annum.
NZSki is also purchasing carbon credits from Carbonz, generated by native vegetation blocks in Otago and Canterbury; this will offset 400 tonnes of emissions this year.
Encouraging the use of ridesharing and buses to get skiiers up the mountain is also helping to cut carbon: Lawrence says a load of people on a 44-seater ski field bus produces 2.6 kg of carbon emissions per person on a return trip from Queenstown, compared to an SUV with an average of 2.3 people aboard producing 6.5 kg per person for the same journey.
The Remarkables has also started planting out its own 20ha block at the bottom of the access road, planting around about 3000 native trees over the last three years.
“The natives take a bit longer to grow, but it’s for the long term,” Lawrence says. “One reason is for carbon uptake, but it’s also to create a little bit of reforestation and bring back the birds.”
Visitor numbers are also bouncing back post-Covid, with business back to pre-pandemic levels this season. The new Sugar Bowl quad chair was opened mid-pandemic in 2020 and the next development, currently awaiting final approval, is a new and realigned chairlift in the Shadow Basin, which will provide a 47 per cent increase in lift-accessed terrain. A six-seater, it will carry skiiers and snowboarders up the mountain three times faster than the existing chair.
These plans build on the success of a major development in 2014-15 which saw the construction of a new, award-winning base building from which families can directly access the first-timers’ area or just watch their kids being active while they enjoy a break — and the installation of the six-seater Curvey Basin chairlift.
As well as the ample beginner slopes, the field also features lots of wide-open, groomed intermediate runs, advanced black trails for seasoned skiers and up to seven terrain parks for snowboarders, including the only Burton Stash snowboard park in the southern hemisphere.
“We’ve got such a great range of terrain — when a family comes up they can all go off in different directions and have their own experiences then come back together, with their own stories to tell.”
“There’s also our Ice Bar two-thirds of the way up that hill, where you get 360-degree views of the basin and across to Coronet Peak and the alps. It’s a very nice place to stop and have a break and take it all in.”
For more information: theremarkables.co.nz
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