Green Statement

China Peak cares about the environment. We fully embrace the concept of reduce, re-use, recycle to minimize our footprint. China Peak is operated under a Special Use Permit granted by the United States Forest Service (USFS) to provide the public benefit of a recreation destination while protecting both public and natural resources. Our commitment to the environment is evident from the products used to serve food, to the vegetation growing on the slopes, to community involvement and education. In 1994, we received the Golden Eagle Award for our environmental excellence with local school outreach and education. The Mayor of Fresno County awarded China Peak (Sierra Summit) in 1996 for our recycling program, which continues to improve each year. As stewards of the forest for 1,300 acres we strive to not only manage the land for recreation, but also to improve the quality of wildlife habitat both now and for future generations.

When you grab a Peak Pilsner and turkey leg for lunch up at the Buckhorn Bar, take a look at what is served to you. You will notice that the cups are made from corn. They are 100% compostable and will break down after disposal. Our napkins are made from post-consumed fibers, and the cutlery is also made from corn. We are in the process of finding either corn or post-consumed paper plates and bowls. The decks on our newer buildings utilize low maintenance, recycled composite plastic planks that require no chemical waterproofing or trees to be harvested. By switching to re-used materials and corn products we have reduced our dependence on petroleum and reduced our final waste. Our recycling program extends beyond bottles and cans to include office paper and cardboard. Please help us by using the recycling bins provided at all the lifts and around the base area.

Although most of the vegetation is covered during the winter, it is a very important aspect of our management plan as stewards of this forest. China Peak collaborates with the USFS, Cal Poly, local nurseries and residents to best manage our vegetation. Our goal is to encourage wildlife habitat, plant health, fire safety, erosion control, and facilitate recreational use. Many ski resorts clear out the vegetation on designated runs, which leads to severe erosion and loss of habitat. We realize that erosion is a problem for stream health, wildlife, soil fertility and stability, and also reduces the quality of the ski run. Therefore we are fighting erosion from both sides by discouraging erosion from ever starting while managing for the inevitable run off.

Local fire safety laws require the removal of debris within a 100 foot radius of all buildings. The nearby communities end up with a surplus of pine needles after clearing around their residences. Common practice is to burn these piles of debris rather than pay to dump them in the landfill. Burning pine needles leads to heavy air pollution. China Peak has a win win solution for fire safety and air pollution, while simultaneously reducing erosion. We encourage local residents to drop their pine needles off at the resort so that we can spread them over the runs as ground cover to prevent erosion, increase soil moisture, protect plant growth, as well as prevent air pollution from the alternative of burning the debris.

Rather than clearing all vegetation from the ski runs, we encourage plant growth! Cal Poly and a local nursery are working to propagate pine mat manzanita for planting on our ski runs. This low growing native shrub will help to stabilize the soil, slow down runoff, while supplying natural habitat and forage. The health of our native Red Fir trees has been compromised by parasitic mistletoe. We are working with the USFS to maintain the health of our forest by inter-planting White Fir trees which are not susceptible to true mistletoe. Runoff is certain with the heavy precipitation and upraised topography typical of the Sierra Nevada. So we have installed water bars to discourage erosion and re-direct the flow. Strategically placed silt boxes intercept sediment from runoff in order to preserve stream clarity and reduce siltation.

For details on China Peak's Green Program, please contact our Mountain Manager, Rich Bailey at rich@skichinapeak.com or (559) 233-2500.