I was going to post something about "Green" skiing being like socially responsible crack dealers ("oh, look, how nice, he uses recycled paper") because downhill skiing is the most environmentally destructive sport imaginable, neck and neck with jetskis for offensiveness above and beyond the call of industry.

But then I read the first comment by the woman who FLIES to NZ to enjoy the powder ... and I realized that there is simply nothing to add.

There is no ski industry without the destruction of the earth.  The ski industry encourages--nay, requires--global travel.  Global travel for skiing means that poor people will die all over the world to support the pleasure of the wealthy elites (see the series on poverty and the environment elsewhere on Grist).  Who do you think pays the price for the climate change caused by all those jet flights?

What a sick article.

I live in Maine, on the NH border, in the White Mountains. There are several ski areas nearby and if they didn't make snow there would be no skiing this year. Right now we have about 3" on the ground but there's plenty of bare ground, too. This area depends on winter sports for its livelihood in winter, and has for decades. When I moved here in the mid 1950s as a child I remember deep, deep snows, snowbanks so big we carved underground snow forts in them, and I even remember climbing onto the low, flat roof of an outbuilding from the snow -- no ladder required. And I have pictures to prove all this. All of the mountains in this region were here long before the advent of snowmaking and I don't remember a year like this one. I grew up on skis. Mountains actually waited until they had several of inches for a base (to ensure spring skiing) before opening and I can think of only one year that we didn't have skiing by Christmas. My parents ran a ski lodge and I do have memories of them sweating it out every once in a while in February (the big winter vacation week), but in general there was snow. There was actually natural powder on the slopes in the east. Imagine that!
I hate to think that this year, with its second warmest January on record (only a fraction less "cooler" than the warmest) and more rain than I've ever seen in winter, is a preview of what to expect in the coming years. What I can't understand is why planners, business owners, and others in positions of power on these issues fail to see the handwriting on the wall. We are in heavy denial.
imgear is right. Skiing is totally unsustainable, even more so now that natural snow is so undependable. And this year the cold weather needed to make snow was undependable, too. Areas would just get conditions improved a bit and we'd be hit with a warm spell and heavy downpours. Regardless of how much of their own energy they make, they still use an outlandish amount. Making snow is very, very energy and resource intensive. And when a region depends on skiing, as this one does, most jobs are seasonable with low salaries and no benefits. A very high percentage of residents in the Conway, NH area work two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet.
The only good thing about this winter is the lack of snow machines in the woods. But the down side of that is local businesses are being hurt. Depending on the weather in times of climate change is risky.
Personally, I'm more concerned about the ecology here than the economy. Our trees are stressed, as are wild animals and plants. We'll probably have an ungodly tick population this year since the ground didn't freeze very deep or for any length of time, and potato beetles (there are large potato farms near where I live) will be plentiful too for the same reason. Life here has evolved to require cold winters, frozen ground, and snow cover. Changes seem to be happening so fast, how will things adapt? What will these beautiful mountains and valleys be like in twenty or fifty or a hundred years? I pray for miracles every day.

I'm sorry my point was not clear.  There is NOTHING that can be done to make skiing sustainable until skiing can survive on the people who can WALK to their local ski slope.  No matter how pseudo green a ski resort is, it's located in the wild and that means that people travel to get there, mainly by flying, which means that any greeny things done at the resort only put lipstick on the pig.

That's all.  The only good ski resort is one that does EVERYTHING right environmentally AND has no customers from outside its local area. People who fly to New Zealand (or Wyoming, or Colorado, ...) to ski are simply kidding themselves if they don't think they are destroying the sport they claim to love (and the planet that they hope to leave to their kids).