Sustainable Slopes
Our Mountain
Here at The Remarkables we're on a mission to do the best we can by our unique environment. This has inspired us to make the ambitious commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030.
We’ve already reduced our emissions by over 50%, and we continue to chip away at that number with the aim of reducing a further 5% each year.
We're proudly guided by the concepts of kaitiakitanga (meaning: guardianship and protection) and manaakitanga (meaning: respect, generosity and care). We understand and acknowledge that our environment is the backbone of our operation, and it’s our responsibility to look after it.
We don't take anything we do for granted and our promise to share our passion for the mountain has never felt as important as it does right now, as we continue on our journey to carbon neutral by 2030.
ROAD TO CARBON NEUTRAL
The Remarkables belongs to family owned and operated business – NZSki. Our sister mountains are across the valley at Coronet Peak and further north at Methven’s Mt Hutt.
At NZSki our primary greenhouse gas emission sources are diesel fuel - used for grooming, transport and building heating - and electricity. Together our three mountains produce approximately 3000 Tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2 only) annually.
How we’re making a difference
Key Initiatives include
- Waste reduction: In 2024, we introduced Sorting Stations to our food/drink outlets, reducing waste to landfill by 42% through better recycling and reusable tableware.
- Transport efficiency: Our carpool priority initiative at Mt Hutt cut guest-related emissions by 30%, saving around 11 tonnes of CO2 per day at our sister mountain.
- Support for conservation: In 2024, we raised $21,700 for the Kea Conservation Trust and $29,800 for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Trust.
- Renewable electricity: We’ve partnered with Meridian Energy to use their Certified Renewable Energy product. This allows us to report our mountain market-based Scope 2 emissions as zero.*
- Carbon credits: We’ve purchased carbon credits from Climate Action Company (formerly Carbonz). Since 2022 we have purchased 1336 tonnes of carbon credits to offset emissions.
*Using the market-based reporting methodology as per the GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance.
What’s next?
We’re keeping the momentum going with a big focus on cutting emissions, reducing waste, and boosting biodiversity. Here’s what’s coming up:
- 100% certified renewable electricity: We’ll stick with Meridian’s Certified Renewable Energy, keeping our mountain Scope 2 electricity emissions at zero.
- Carbon credits: we will continue to purchase carbon credits until we no longer need to.
- Smarter fuel use: With new hybrid and PHEV vehicles in our fleet and SnowSat tracking for our groomers, we’re targeting big fuel efficiency gains.
- Waste reduction: By 2030, we aim to cut food waste by 75%*, use 95% reusable tableware and reduce single use packaged items.
- Conservation programmes: Planting, revegetation, and pest control projects will stay in full swing at all our ski areas.
- On the right path: The continuation of NZSki’s Emission Reduction Initiatives – many of which can be found on this page.
- Leading the way together: We’re fully support Destination Queenstown’s audacious goal of becoming a carbon-zero destination by 2030. As one of the largest tourism operators in town, we are deeply committed to sharing our journey and insights with local businesses and the community. Through media, events, and forums we aim to inspire and empower others to join us in leading the way toward a more sustainable future
*Using 2024 data as a baseline.
You’ll notice carbon offsetting is one part of our multi-pronged approach. We know this isn’t a long-term solution and overtime the native trees we plant will begin to sequester carbon, taking over from the credits we purchase. Our most important focus is ensuring we’re doing all we can to minimise our emissions through our carbon reduction initiatives.
To move towards our goal, we are committed to taking advantage of the very best technology available in the industry. Investigating and trialling any new technology is a big part of reaching carbon neutral by 2030.
We are always working to do more, but we think this is a pretty good start on our decarbonisation journey.
A Safe Place To Land
We have proudly partnered with Queenstown’s Kea Conservation Trust, as part of a joint initiative for The Remarkables to be a safe place for kea to reside. We provide funds for research, education, and volunteer our time to help monitor kea.
We work with the Trust to catch the birds, measure them, check their blood levels for lead and band their legs so we can monitor their progress once they’re released. We encourage visitors to report any kea sightings at The Remarkables or other spots around the Wakatipu. To date, we’ve managed to catch and band six of the cheeky, healthy parrots.
To help the kea and other birds, we have an extensive trapping system of over 80 traps set up along the access road to eradicate unwanted pests from our mountain. These traps are monitored weekly and have eliminated hundreds of predators including possums, stoats, ferrets and rats.
RESTORE & REGROW
When completing trail developments or adding new infrastructure, such as new chairlifts, to the mountain, we ensure the landscape is restored so we don’t lose any native flora or fauna in the process. Native plants that are removed are propagated while the work is taking place, they’re then brought back to the same area and replanted.
Using this same process we also revegetate other areas on the mountain. We use seed from plants already in our environment to make certain the mountain is planted with flora that is native to, and bred for, our unique alpine conditions. Over the coming years we hope to clear 20ha of non-native flora and revegetate it with native forest. This work is partially funded by the Billion Tree Project, an initiative to see one billion natives planted by 2028.
In summer our team spend time chopping down any wilding pines and other non-native plants from along the access road.
All of the native trees we plant on and around our mountains will begin to sequester carbon in the future, taking over from the credits we purchase.
RECYCLING & COMPOSTING
Our glass, cans, plastic and clean cardboard gets sorted (at the Sorting Stations) and recycled. We also take everything that can be composted off the mountain to a local company called Waste to Wilderness - this significantly reduces the amount of waste we send to landfill.
WASTE MINIMISATION
We have been working hard to significantly reduce waste in our café and restaurant through a number of different initiatives. With the introduction of Sorting Stations, we have reduced waste by landfill by 42%. The method is simple and effective – guests drop their trays at our manned stations and our friendly staff sort the waste. This ensures better recycling, due to less contamination, it also means we don’t lose any of our reusable tableware.
At present 90% of the tableware we use (mugs, plates, knives, forks etc.) are either reusable or home compostable. You won’t see a single-use takeaway cup or sauce packets on our mountains as we outlawed these a few years ago. Each year our teams are working hard to reduce the amount of single use food packaging.
TRANSPORT
We encourage all our guests to ride-share or take our Ski Bus up the mountain to reduce the amount of trips taken per season. One bus can offset 50-60 car trips. Snow Riders NZ is a great place to find mates to share a lift up the hill with.
We also track fuel efficiency across our vehicle fleet to encourage efficient driving practices in vehicles and grooming. On top of this we have an in-house Transport Vehicle Usage app – it logs distance travelled and records passengers in vehicles. This helps us understand and reduce the number of vehicles and/or trips up and down our mountains.
SNOW ON THE GO
Our snowmaking machines are the best in the business meaning they're energy efficient when using both power and water to make snow. The water used is from our snowmaking reservoirs that are kept topped up via bores that tap into aquifers or streams that are fed by snow melt and run-off.
Our fleet of groomers are equipped with SNOWsat - a sophisticated snow management technology that leverages GPS and accurate ground surveys. SNOWsat continuously measures and displays snow depth in real-time allowing our groomer operators to distribute snow more evenly as they traverse the mountain, and ensure we only make snow where it’s needed. Coupled with detailed machine/operator diagnostics, SNOWsat has enabled a 15% reduction in seasonal fuel and power associated with trail preparation and maintenance.
How you can help
We’re all in this together. Here’s how you can contribute:
Use our Sorting Stations: Drop your tray after meals to reduce waste contamination.
Carpool or ride the bus: Priority parking for carpoolers and a reduced carbon footprint.
Donate to local causes: Add $5 to your online purchases to support the Kea Conservation Trust or the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Trust.
Thanks for being part of the journey – we'll keep you in the loop on our road to carbon neutral.
