March 4 was the first annual Rural Voices Day, highlighting the work of rural public radio stations around the country.
To celebrate the new annual event, Aspen Public Radio hosted a special live broadcast of All Things Considered from the Pitkin County Library in Aspen.
Aspen One’s Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Chris Miller, spoke with Sage Smiley about how the county’s largest employer looks at the future of Aspen’s rural resort economy in a changing climate.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Sage Smiley: Sustainability is a big word. What does that mean at Aspen One?
Chris Miller: In essence, it means staying in business forever. It means operating our business and being a part of a community and a culture that is able to sustain itself, so that those of us who work at the company, those of us who live in this community and who love the mountains can enjoy them forever.
Smiley: Aspen Skiing Company has been really at the forefront of advocating for policy change, climate wise, at the local, state and national level. What sort of specific goals are you looking at — say if there was some piece of legislation you could advocate for that would get passed this year, what does that look like?
Miller: So it's a really important point, right? Many companies and corporations have sustainability teams that focus on greening their own operations, and while it is important that all of us operate our companies and our businesses in a way that does less bad and more good, to your point, we have to think beyond the trail map. We could shut this resort down tomorrow, and our climate is still headed over the cliff. So an important part of our strategy and approach is to use our voice and our influence as a major employer and a company in this community and in Colorado to be advocates for addressing the systemic nature of climate change.
And so that looks like being advocates for policies that, you know, speed the transition to a renewable energy future, that provide pathways for electric vehicles, that, in essence, get us off of fossil fuels. And so that is, big-picture, what we're looking to do from a policy level.
Smiley: So we're here right now at the Pitkin County Library outside, looking out at the mountain. It's beautiful, but it is unseasonably warm. This is a winter that looks like what winters may look like in the future. How does that impact your thinking, both internally at the company, but then also within the context of this broader, off-the-trails sustainability push? How is that thought about here at Aspen Skiing Company — at Aspen One?
Miller: This winter sort of looks exactly like what scientists have been saying that we would see, right? And so I think a couple of things.
One, we will continue to invest in innovations in snowmaking, in grooming — Pandora's (Hero’s) that is higher up on the mountain. We'll continue to invest in innovations that make this resort the world-class resort that it is, so that we will continue to do so.
I think the optimism here is that we have the tools we need to solve the climate crisis, and so our job as citizens, as members of this community, who love this mountain and who love to ski, and for those of us who work at the company, is to continue to press to accelerate this transition, right? It's not like we need new technology.
Holy Cross Energy is at 90% renewable energy, right? The impact that that has on our mountains is far more than we could have achieved by ourselves. We need every utility in America to be doing what Holy Cross is doing.
Smiley: So you mentioned Pandora's, and this was an expansion into the sidecountry area. It's now called Hero’s. SkiCo told county commissioners at the time that this was a climate resilience strategy. How is that looking now that this has been developed — now that you've expanded into this climate resilience area? Is that working out, or is there more that needs to be done in terms of those sorts of mitigations for a changing climate?
Miller: I think we're going to continue to have to adapt, given the world we're facing. Having said that, this resort is very well positioned – it’s positioned better than most – to push through the challenges and weather patterns that we will expect to see. We opened on time this year. Many resorts in the state didn't. I would put to you that we've got as good of conditions as any resort in the state, and so we're well positioned because of the investments we made. We'll continue to make them, but we can't let up on the idea that we have to continue to press to solve this problem.
Smiley: There's about a minute left. This is the big question for about a minute left, but as this area's largest employer, what does Aspen's economy look like — this rural resort economy — heading into a future with a different climate?
Miller: I think we have to continue to evolve and think about what this community and what the resort looks like. Skiing is such an important part of the culture here. I'm a year into the company, and I feel it every day I'm here. And so I think I'll end perhaps where we started, which is the goal here is to stay in business forever. I think we want to continue to be a four-season resort. What's the same? People come here for the winter; they stay for the summer. I think this is an incredible community year-round, but skiing needs to continue to be at the heart of what we embrace here in Aspen.
Smiley: Chris Miller, thank you for joining me.
Miller: Thank you.
