SUSTAINABLE SLOPES
Our Mountain
Here at Coronet Peak we're on a mission to do the best we can by our environment.
We’ve made a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030. We kicked things off by setting a goal of reducing our emissions by 50% in 2023. We proudly achieved this. This year, our goal is to reduce a further 5%, bringing us to a 55% reduction in carbon emissions.
We're proudly guided by the concepts of kaitiakitanga (meaning: guardianship and protection) and manaakitanga (meaning: respect, generosity and care). We understand and acknowledge that our environment is the backbone of our operation, and it’s our responsibility to look after it.
We don't take anything we do for granted and our promise to share our passion for the mountain has never felt as important as it does right now, as we continue on our journey to carbon neutral by 2030.
ROAD TO CARBON NEUTRAL
Coronet Peak belongs to family owned and operated tourism powerhouse – NZSki. Our sister mountains are across the valley at The Remarkables and further north at Methven’s Mt Hutt.
At NZSki our primary greenhouse gas emission sources are diesel fuel - used for grooming and transport - and electricity. Together our three mountains produce approximately 3000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2 only) annually.
2024 Focus
This year we’re aiming to reduce a further 5% of emissions, which will bring our total up to a 55% reduction. In order to do this, we’ll still keep doing same things we did last year, as well as some new initiatives.
1. NEW for 2024 is our very own Transport Vehicle Usage app. We’ve developed an app which now logs distance travelled and records passengers in vehicles - this will help us understand and potentially reduce number of vehicles and/or trips up and down our mountains.
2. Also NEW for 2024 is the introduction of 5 new hybrid vehicles, which will see a 25% reduction in fuel usage per vehicle.
3. We’ll continue to purchase Meridian Energy’s Certified Renewable Energy product. In conjunction with our emission reduction programs it also means we can report our market-based scope 2 emissions as zero* (our scope 2 emissions are currently reported as over 1000T per annum).
4. Purchasing Carbon Credits from Carbonz – the credits come from native vegetation blocks in the Otago and Canterbury regions; for 2023 this offset 400T, we’ll do the same for 2024.
5. The continuation of NZSki’s Emission Reduction Initiatives – many of which can be found on this page.
*Using the market-based reporting methodology as per the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance.
You’ll notice carbon offsetting is one part of our multi-pronged approach. We know this isn’t a long-term solution and overtime the native trees we plant will begin to sequester carbon, taking over from the credits we purchase. Our most important focus is ensuring we’re doing all we can to minimise our emissions through our carbon reduction initiatives.
To move towards our goal, we are committed to taking advantage of the very best technology available in the industry and this season we will be trialing a Diesel-Electric Groomer at NZSki.
We are always working to do more, but we think this is a pretty good start as we begin our decarbonisation journey. We will continue to keep you posted on our progress.
A SAFE PLACE TO LAND
We are working to bring back Karearea (New Zealand Falcon) to Coronet Peak. Karearea are New Zealand’s most threatened native raptor (bird of prey), with only 3000-5000 breeding pairs left in the country. They nest on the ground, leaving them vulnerable to pests.
To help the Karearea and other birds, we run an extensive trapping programme which includes nearly 70 traps in two lines, across several kilometres of the mountain. The trap lines intercept and trap pests such as stoats, possums and hedgehogs from wandering up Coronet Peak and threatening bird nests and young. Reducing the number of pests on the mountain also increases food sources for the birds.
RESTORE & REGROW
When completing trail developments or adding new infrastructure, such as new chairlifts, we don’t want to lose any native flora or fauna in the process. To Avoid this, tussocks removed are propagated at a nursey in Southland while the work is taking place, they’re then returned and replanted on mountain.
In summer, we attack a number of exotic plants that invade Coronet Peak. Our staff walk the mountain cutting down Pine and Douglas Fir, and spraying Willow, Broom, Silver Birch and more. Come December, we do a special trip cutting down Pine to be sold to the local community as Christmas Trees. Money raised is donated to local charity Happiness House.
For a number of year’s we have been planting native trees on and around our mountains and in the future these trees will begin to sequester carbon, taking over from the credits we purchase.
SNOW ON THE GO
Our snowmaking machines are the best in the business meaning they're energy efficient when using both power and water to make snow. The water used is from our snowmaking reservoirs and these are filled from natural sources such as rain or snow melt.
Our fleet of groomers use a clever SNOWsat programme. This technology measures snow depth on our main trails and allows us to groom slopes more efficiently by only targeting snowmaking where it's needed. This system means 15% less power and diesel used when grooming our slopes.
We are always looking to invest in sustainable technology , including our 2023 trial of the new Diesel-Electric Groomer.
WASTE MINIMISATION
We have been working hard to significantly reduce waste in our café and restaurant through a number of different initiatives. We have also made a commitment to measure the amount of waste that goes to landfill and our local composting facilities – this will help us gain better understanding of how we can further successfully make reductions.
90% of the tableware we use (mugs, plates, knives, forks) are either reusable or home-compostable
We’ve outlawed takeaway cups, single use sauce packets, and are working to eliminate almost all single use plastic food packaging
RECYCLING & COMPOSTING
All of our recycling is sorted by our team. The glass waste is then put through our on mountain glass crusher. This turns glass bottles into a sand-like substance that is then used to bed pipes in the ground during summer development projects. Our cans, plastic and clean cardboard gets sorted and recycled. We also take everything that can be composted off the mountain to a local facility at the bottom of the mountain - this significantly reduces the amount of waste we send to landfill.
TRANSPORT
We encourage all our guests to ride-share or take our Ski Bus up the mountain to reduce the amount of trips taken per season. One bus can offset 50-60 car trips. Snow Riders NZ is a great place to find mates to share a lift up the hill with. This season we are also tracking fuel efficiency across our vehicle fleet to encourage efficient driving practices in vehicles and grooming.
