This has been a subject that I think the whole ski industry and thought about for years and has recently begun to act on the idea of using the wind to power these resorts. Many people do not realize that ski resorts use huge amounts of electricity to power those lifts to carry those ski enthusiast up a mountain to enjoy the fresh pow. These resorts  like any other business are trying to come up with creative and efficient ways to reduce there environmental impact and also reduce their utility bills.

Wind energy is the perfect way to not only reduce a ski resorts environmental footprint but also drastically reduce there power bills. Ski mountains are perfect for wind turbines for many reasons but there are two that really make it great. The first is the altitude which plays a key role in how effective a wind turbine will perform. The higher you go in our atmosphere the higher the wind speed is which makes ski resorts ideal. Many ski resorts on the east coast and specifically Vermont are ideal locations for these turbines. An example is Bolton Valley Ski Resort here in Vermont. This resort has a Northern Power 100 kW wind turbine that is capable of generating 250,000 kWh annually. That is enough energy to power. In the near future Burke Mountain Ski Resort is also planning on installing a Northern Power 100 kW wind turbine. Its a no brainier for ski resorts to take advantage of this wind resource and in the future there will be many more ski resorts that will have a wind turbine standing tall supplying them will clean renewable energy for many years.

This article from ESPN talks about the wind turbine that will be getting installed at Burke Mountain this summer. http://sports.espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/news/story?id=6443611