What Goes Up Must Come Down: Food, Waste & the Future of Ski Hospitality

Did you know that there’s a restaurant in Switzerland that gives customers a carbon score of each dish? We didn’t… and it turns out hospitality businesses across the winter sports industry are doing a lot more to make their operations more sustainable. From underground waste-tunnels to rooftop herb gardens, this week we took a look at how the sector is adapting to the growing demand for greener gastronomy.

Picture the scene: you’re happily trailblazing around the mountain all morning and you now fancy a quiet sit down (where else is it socially acceptable to have a pint at 11am?) and those red runs have really kicked in your appetite for steak-frites accompanied by a picturesque view. We all know what happens from here, but I bet you couldn’t say how all of that produce gets to that spot atop the slopes and, furthermore, where does the waste go? There’s a lot to see on the slopes: breath-taking scenery, six-year-olds that are ready to take on the X-games and enough questionable fashion choices to start a trend war - don’t get too excited, Donald, we said trend - but a pile of crushed Jubel cans and Aperol bottles is something that is never seen. So where does it end up? We did some digging.

Hospitality on the slopes is of course a huge part of any ski trip, whether it’s the idyllic lunch spots, après bars or even the hotels that keep us well-rested for another day of hitting the runs on-time for that fabled first lift. However, it is fair to say that it is also an overlooked aspect when it comes to considering the sustainable practices that resorts ought to be adopting.

So, let’s start with the simple stuff. How do crates of lager and bags of French Fries make it to that cosy chalet halfway up a mountain that has zero road access? The answer is, more often than not, via snowcat, snowmobile, cable car or even helicopter. In resorts like Zermatt and Verbier, where many slope-side restaurants have no direct vehicular access, produce is often loaded onto gondolas early in the morning, before passengers arrive.

It’s a system that works, but at a serious cost. In Austria’s Tyrol region, snowcat deliveries to remote alpine venues account for approximately 1,100 tonnes of CO2 annually, according to a report by CIPRA International. Helicopter deliveries, though rarer now due to regulatory pressure, emit exponentially more.

Some resorts are getting creative. Take Laax for example: one of Europe’s most sustainably-forward ski areas, restaurants such as Vorab Glacier-House use an electric snowcat to haul supplies. Moreover, Avoriaz are trialling hydrogen-powered delivery sleds and snow groomers. France’s Les Arcs runs a consolidated logistics centre at the resort’s base, where deliveries are repacked and sent up by gondola in reusable crates, reducing plastic and emissions in one go.

Getting the food up the mountain is one thing, but where that food comes from in the first place is another major sustainability challenge. Most resorts still heavily rely on produced being trucked in from hundreds of kilometres away, often refrigerated, packed in plastic and ill-suited to the mountain climate. This results in massive food miles and all too much spoilage. In a 2023 survey of 50 alpine restaurants across France, Switzerland and Austria, only 18% reported sourcing more than half of their fresh ingredients locally during winter. The logistical reality is that local supply chains often just can’t compete with wholesale distribution giants on price, availability or predictability.

However, there are of course outliers. At Whitepod in Switzerland, menus are built around hyperlocal produce; including cheese from a nearby valley cooperative, charcuterie from the neighbouring town and root vegetables harvested from a permaculture farm that delivers once a week via snowshoe and sled. Their kitchen composts everything and guests are even offered carbon scores on each dish. Further north in Norway, Skigaarden Lodge has committed to sourcing 80% of its ingredients from within 200km - a tough feat for a resort that is perched deep in the fjords. They work with local fishermen, reindeer herders and many small breweries to keep their supply chain as regional and regenerative as possible.

PR-friendly menu tweaks such as these appeal to the eco-conscious customers as well as being real commitments to the environment and local economies. Moreover, when paired with smaller menus, seasonal planning and regenerative farming partnerships, both food waste and emissions are drastically reduced.

The Waste Problem

Waste in alpine hospitality is nothing short of a logistical headache that’s often kept behind the curtain. In most resorts, waste is stored in insulated bins or sheds and removed weekly, usually by the same methods that bring it in. At busy times, the sheer volume is staggering. One restaurant owner in Meribel has said that they generate “upwards of 200kg of food waste and recyclables every weekend,” all of which has to be sorted and shipped down before the first guests hit the terrace.

What happens from here varies widely. In the French Alps, around 70% of mountain hospitality waste is incinerated due to limited recycling infrastructure at altitude. In contrast, Switzerland requires resorts to separate compostables, plastics, metals and glass at point of origin, with fines being dished out to those who don’t comply. Austria is currently pioneering vacuum tube waste removal systems in some resorts, literally sucking waste from restaurants to lower collection points via gravity-powered chutes: a genius fix, but with a hefty installation cost.

Some hotels are opting for closed-loop systems instead. The Dolomites is home to the Legacio Hotel, where organic waste from the restaurant is composted on-site and used in a rooftop herb garden. Andermatt’s Chedi Residences’ staff track waste by department via smart bins, an innovation that’s reportedly reduced their total food waste by 30% in one season.

Liquids, Leftovers & Landfills

What about the thousands of litres of beer, wine and Aperol that fuel ski season’s more celebratory moments?

Drink waste is an unsung culprit. Many après bars serve from cans and bottles, which are heavier to transport and harder to recycle than kegs. In France, some resorts are moving back to bulk bag-in-box wines and refillable growlers to reduce packaging. Due to ongoing changes in Swiss regulations, Zermatt plans to ban single-use glass bottles on slopes entirely, and resorts like Åre in Sweden now use RFID-tagged reusable cups with a deposit system in place.

What’s Next?

As carbon accounting becomes the norm under regulations like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), resorts will be forced to track and disclose their supply chains and waste outputs, right down to how many times a crate of oranges was flown or driven.

But real transformation will come not just from regulation, but culture. Resorts like Laax and Chamonix are beginning to reimagine themselves not just as destinations, but as closed-loop communities. In Chamonix, the new “Local Loop” initiative connects hotels, restaurants and farmers into a shared logistics and waste infrastructure, (think Uber for cheese deliveries and shared biodigesters for waste).

Ultimately, it’s no longer enough to offer a great view and a decent burger. Guests are starting to ask: how did this food get here and where will it end up? If the ski industry wants to keep its place at the top, then it needs to start thinking from the bottom up. Beginning with the very crates that come in with the morning snowcat and ending with what’s scraped into the bin when the last schnitzel is served.

And who knows, maybe one day, that post-ski pint won’t just taste good. It’ll feel good, too.