But by 2014, the Taos Ski Valley was a faded gem. The resort in New Mexico has lost about 40% of its skiers since its heyday in the early 1990s. Financier and conservationist Louis Bacon bought the ski area in 2014 and chief executive David Norden came two years later. Mr. Norden has taken a new approach to revitalizing the ski area. He takes a risk: Can sustainability save skiing?
In 2017, Taos became the first and only ski resort to be certified as a Group B for environmental and social performance, matching other socially responsible companies like Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s. Mr. Norden’s gamble paid off immediately: B Corp’s announcement led to the largest single-day ticket sales in the history of the ski resort.
This year, Taos Ski Valley became the second ski area in North America to become carbon neutral (the first was wild mountain in Minnesota), beat the original goal of 2030 by eight years.
“Our vision,” Mr. Norden said, “is better, not bigger.”
The ski area now runs on 100% solar power during the day, its new luxury hotel runs on geothermal energy, the ski resort is buying a fleet of electric snowmobiles and this will be the ski area first in North America to operate electric snowmobiles this winter.
Earlier this year, the ski resort became a charter party to The Nature Conservancy’s Rio Grande Water Foundation, is restoring 600,000 acres of forest in northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado to reduce wildfire risk and ensure clean water for a million people. An added bonus is that forest reclamation also makes for great cross-country skiing.
Mr. Norden said the ski resort learned about “true sustainability” from Taos Pueblo. The resort is sponsoring a program for 25 children from Taos Pueblo to ski for free, which includes lift tickets, clothing, food, equipment and lessons.
Cheryl Romero, an Indigenous member of Taos Pueblo and human resources manager at the ski resort, says the commitment to the environment and engagement with the community is “really just going for a walk”.
