Wild Mountain is GREEN!

A necessary evolution to thinking green is fortunately, occurring in our society and much of the world.  But, green meansdifferent things, to different people.  We thought we’d tell our customer base what “being green” means to Wild Mountain – Taylors Falls Recreation.

Each year since the mid-80s, our management team has morphed our development and problem-solving thinking into an increasingly deeper shade of green.  The diverse and complex blend of our recreational companies made going green an equally complex task.  As we surveyed our businesses, (ski, snowboard & snow tubing area, water park, alpine slides & go-karts, canoe & kayak rental, & scenic boat tours on the St. Croix River, and campground,) we found that opportunities and problems co-mingle in the environmental arena.  Small business must be far sighted in selecting options, by choosing those that don’t cause new problems, yet allow business to remain within budgetary dictates.  When a strategy works we adopt it.  When it doesn’t, we search for an alternative that does.  Here are some things we’ve done for years as our shade of green has become more intense;

Use of Electrical Power – An on-going, unending process.

• Replacing fluorescent t12 lights and incandescent bulbs to new highly efficient t8 units, which require less electricity.
• Occupancy sensors are being used in rooms used by the public, which turn off lights when the rooms are unoccupied.
• Photo cells and timers avoid use of outdoor lighting when not needed.
• Outside lighting on ski slopes is changing from Quartz elements to Metal Halide, which reduces power demand by some 40%.
• To provide better lighting, and less skyward light pollution, old slope- lighting reflectors are being replaced with modern units whose light can be aimed.  This effort also reduces the demand for electricity by concentrating light where it is needed.
• Wild Mountain has emergency power generators enabling operation of lifts and lights during power failures that can darken entire communities.  Our generators are also used in cooperation with NSP, during their max-power overload times, which reduces demand on their power source when necessary.

Heating – An on-going, unending process.

• Our office/operations centers are both heated and cooled with high efficiency ground water heat pumps.
• Our large capacity ski and tubing chalets are heated with 98% efficient heaters.
• Combined with our solar-passive designs, they require absolutely no heaters of any kind in the upstairs, second-story areas.

Summer Water Use Controls – An on-going, unending process.

• All of our restrooms have been retrofitted with low-flow faucets and toilets.
• Summer water slides and rides continually filter re-cycled, water from the reservoir, which requires only small amounts of supplemental water to replace evaporation and spillage. 

Snow Making - Water Use Controls – An on-going, unending process.

• Wild Mountain uses high-tech and high-efficiency SMI snow making machines, and high-flow nozzles, which reduce water evaporation during production. 
• Our machines require 50% less power per cubic foot of water converted into snow, yet produce, nearly 50% more snow than types we originally used.
• To further improve efficiency, reduce power use, and increase snow making, Wild Mountain cools water in its hilltop reservoir.  It is then gravity-fed to the snow machine pumping system.  The near freezing temperature of the cooled water enables machines to produce more snow in less time.
• Wild’s state-of-the-art system enables all ski, tubing, and terrain park slopes to be covered with machine-made snow in half the time it used to take.

Waste Management – An on-going, unending process.

• Long before green became an environmental expression,  Wild Mountain – Taylors Falls Recreation practiced recycling.  We recycle aluminum, glass, plastic, paper and cardboard containers at all locations, which reduces our landfill contribution by an average 24 cubic yards per month. 
• Our resale product selection is governed by the dictates of waist reduction and container recycling.
• Our used oil and grease products from our fleet of transportation vehicles, snow grooming cats and maintenance units is provided to companies who use it in road paving surfaces.
• All used cooking oils are transferred to FOG (Fats, Oils, & Grease) processing plants that re-cycle it into re-use products.

Fuel Efficient Fleet – An on-going, unending process.

• We have been changing our fleet of snowmobiles and four-wheelers from two to four-stroke cleaner engines as they phase out and are replaced.
• Our new Park Bully Edge Terrain Park groomer is a $250,000 groomer that keeps our grooming fleet state-of-the-art, and it is 25% more fuel efficient and meets the most-strict, exhaust emission standards.

Standards Compliance – An on-going, unending process.

• We strive to meet or exceed existing state and county environmental guidelines.
• We continue to invest in research into issues such as, Storm-water- Pollution prevention planning, and on-going environmental compliance.

Green Education – An on-going, unending process.

Our management team is headed by, a mechanical engineer, by degree, but one who also beneficially spent part of his career as a performance test engineer for Minnesota Power Company, with a focus on electrical distribution efficiency.  Our team monitors environmental practices of the National Ski Areas Association, and we peruse the web and industry to gain knowledge that continues to darken our shade of green.  We want you to know, “We will continue to responsibly fulfill our environmental contributions and obligations as we have in the past.  Everything at Wild Mountain – Taylors Falls Recreation, will be green but the snow!