SUSTAINABILITY

EPICPROMISE

“Community service and environmental protection are important to us. We strive to maintain and improve upon these missions daily.
Epic promise for Zero Footprint. We’ve set our sights on zero by 2030.

Powered by Passion

EpicPromise harnesses the passion of Vail Resorts employees, guests, and community members to create a more promising future.

Environmental stewardship is an important part of life at Lake Tahoe.

Our mountain's proximity to the Lake makes it one of the most unique and awe-inspiring places to live, work, and play.

It also means that we need to be leaders in protecting and preserving our beautiful environment.

With our EpicPromise to the community, we're helping fund South Shore non-profits, volunteering our time, and making a difference.

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Meet our local non-profit partners that receive funding through the EpicPromise grant program and learn about Heavenly's involvement with our Tahoe community and our Ski With a Ranger program.

Partnerships

We're happy to support our 49 South Shore partners including:

We're proud to support the Take Care Tahoe initiative to keep the Tahoe Basin beautiful.

To see all of our partners, apply for grants, or learn more about the Epic Promise program go to our website.

Vail Resorts EpicPromise

  • 10% Energy reduction goal achieved in 2011, future goal is the “Next 10” energy reduction by 2020. As of 2014 we've reduced our energy usage by 16%
  • Over 7 million annually in cash and in-kind donations given to 235 non-profits in the communities where we operate our world class resorts and properties.
  • Locally here at Heavenly over 350 employees helped plant over 1000 sugar pine seedlings in the Angora Fire burn area and restored 1.2 miles of the Tahoe Mountain Trail system, during EpicPromise Day 2014. Heavenly once again had the highest overall participation rate within Vail Resorts during this volunteer effort.
  • Heavenly has partnered with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the USDA Forest Service and Mt. Rose Ski Area to undertake genetic testing of the Tahoe Draba with the goal of preparing a long-term conservation strategy and management plan to ensure the success of the species.
  • Heavenly serves as a founding co-chair of the Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality Coalition, a public-private partnership that implements an annual legislative agenda designed to bring state and federal funds to Lake Tahoe in order to implement restoration projects throughout the Basin which help the region attain and maintain the adopted Environmental Threshold Carrying Capacity standards.
  • Heavenly serves as a member of the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee which oversees and directs the implementation of the Federal Lake Tahoe Restoration Act.
  • Heavenly serves as a committee member of the Tahoe Earth Day Foundation which strives to educate the general public regarding the Lake Tahoe and Truckee region’s unique beauty and how to preserve and protect it.
  • Now in its 12th season, Heavenly has partnered with the USDA Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit to offer the Winter Trek Program, an environmental education program for 5th graders that takes place at the top of the Heavenly Gondola.

Employees in Action

  • This year 2,070 Vail Resorts employees participated in EpicPromise Week, resulting in 8,280 hours of volunteer service to 25 different projects.
  • Each year over 75 employees participate in our neighborhood and mountain clean up days, taking thousands of pounds of garbage and recyclables off the mountain.
  • Heavenly participates annually in the Epic Volunteers program. Most recently, Liesl Kenney spent a week rebuilding trails with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association.

Ski With a Ranger

  • Come learn about the mountain and how Heavenly works with the US Forest Service to promote environmental stewardship.
  • Our Ski With A Ranger sessions are Mondays and Fridays at 1PM at the Top of the Heavenly Gondola.

Learn about the programs and initiatives at Heavenly that are making a difference in our forest and mountain ecosystem.

  • Beginning in 2012, Heavenly and the Epic Promise Program partnered with the Tahoe Fund to raise money for the National Forests of the Lake Tahoe Basin by asking guests to contribute $1 for each season pass or lift ticket they buy. The Tahoe Fund is an organization that works to restore Tahoe's forest health, improve access to outdoor recreation, and improve water quality in and around the Lake Tahoe region.
  • Over $100,000 has been donated to The Tahoe Fund since 2012.
  • Heavenly partners with South Tahoe Refuse for source separation of trash, preventing its recyclables from being sent to the landfill. In 2012 Heavenly launched the Blue Bag program at all of it’s lodges to further increase recycling diversion and now has a dedicated recycling area at the Cal Lodge. Since 2006 South Tahoe Refuse has increased it’s landfill diversion rate from 38% to 64% in 2014.
  • Compost Your Combustibles' is an annual event hosted by Heavenly and coordinated with the Tahoe-Douglas Fire Protection District and South Tahoe Refuse. This program encourages locals to bring their yard wastes to Heavenly for source separation and re-use on the mountain for summer erosion control. Through this program the Nevada communities near our Stagecoach and Boulder Base Areas divert over 400 tons of waste from going to the landfill every year.
  • Heavenly’s lodges have been outfitted with low-flow fixtures to conserve water.
  • In April 2014 Heavenly's California Main Lodge added two electric car chargers for our guests and environmentally conscious Tahoe travelers.
  • In November 2014 Heavenly purchased 3 New Puma SMI portable fan guns (pictured above in action.) This project will result in $1,000 in rebates from utility providers, and will save nearly 12,000 kwh's (kilowatt hours) over the old equipment.
  • Heavenly has recycled over 120 tons of scrap metal since 2012.
  • Heavenly collects over 1,000 gallons of fryer oil from our restaurants each year for Sequential Oil to reuse as biofuel and other products.
  • Heavenly's restaurants continue to use baskets, durables, and reusable silverware leading to a decrease in waste production while also saving energy and water.
  • Heavenly’s Tamarack Lodge is LEED certified and was the 2012 recipient of a Best in Basin award from The TRPA for excellence in design.
  • Heavenly’s lodges have been retrofitted with energy efficient lighting and heating for a significant decrease in energy consumption.
  • Heavenly's Terrain Park Crew is constantly being creative with recycling and re-purposing what would otherwise be considered garbage into innovative, world class features. They currently have over 35 recycled features in their stash, which might be the largest recycled fleet in the Tahoe area...maybe even the US.
  • During summer months, we focus on water and energy efficiency. We work hard to protect our watersheds, wildlife habitats, soil, and natural environment whenever we are restoring our slopes, trails, and roads.
  • Heavenly protects the Tahoe Draba, a sensitive, high-alpine plant species unique to the Lake Tahoe Basin, through management activities including protective exclusion fencing. We also offer interpretive information for guests, employee training, and avoidance.

Heavenly's committed to improving our natural environment. Check out our current and past initiatives that continue to improve our air and water quality.

Water-Air Quality Programs

  • Heavenly transports 300,000+ guests and employees each ski season on BlueGo buses and financially supports the operations of the free skier shuttles. Most of these buses utilize CNG (compressed natural gas) which is better for our sensitive Lake Tahoe environment, and saves on average 1.5 million vehicle miles traveled annually.
  • Heavenly currently implements and attains a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for suspended sediment on Heavenly Valley Creek. It was the first of its kind in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
  • With the help of the USDA Forest Service, Heavenly has created and implemented the Ski Area Cumulative Watershed Effects Restoration Program. Each summer since the mid-1990’s, Heavenly has actively implemented remedial erosion control and re-vegetation projects to improve water quality and reduce soil erosion from ski runs and summer maintenance roads.
  • Heavenly has spent three-quarters of a million dollars installing a new storm water management facility at the Boulder Lodge and parking lot.
  • In the summer of 2008, Heavenly implemented Phase 3 of a multi-million dollar, three-phase storm water filtration and management project at the California Main Lodge and parking lot.
  • In sum, all of Heavenly’s on-mountain watershed protection projects and storm water management help reduce nutrient and sediment loads in Lake Tahoe, thus helping us protect its world-famous clarity.

Erosion Control Programs

  • In 2013 Heavenly started manufacturing pine needle wattles with recycled pine needles. In 2014 over 500 linear feet of pine needle wattles were built and implemented around the resort as temporary and permanent BMP's (Best Management Practices). In a typical year Heavenly uses over 100 tons of pine needles on our slopes and trails for soil cover and erosion control purposes.
  • Heavenly is a founding member of the California Alpine Resorts Environmental Cooperative (CAREC), an organization made up of several Sierra Nevada ski resorts and the State of California Water Resources Control Board, designed to develop, test and share information on erosion control, re-vegetation, and water quality protection.
  • Heavenly pioneered the use of water bars on its runs to help reduce soil erosion.
  • In 2007, Heavenly completed a comprehensive Stream Environment Zone Restoration project on Edgewood Creek leading to enhanced sediment retention, a significant increase in riparian habitat, and additional nutrient uptake potential.

Master Plan Monitoring and Reporting

The following annual report contains environmental monitoring and reporting information required as part of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Master Plan. This report is published annually and is based on information gathered throughout the prior operating year. For more information, please call 775-586-7000.

TRPA Reports