GREEN SPIRIT our commitment
THE MOUNTAINS
FOREVER
The company in charge of running the Avoriaz ski-lifts, SERMA, has strived for many years to keep the resort at the forefront of environmental protection.
Avoriaz was designed to offer a unique nature experience in a mountain environment. Its singularity resides as much in the snow-covered, vehicle-free, pedestrian walkways as in the architectural design, with shapes and materials that blend harmoniously into the setting. Ever since the resort’s beginnings in 1967, Avoriaz has aimed to make wintersports more widely accessible and to viably sustain the local population, through winter tourism.
It is up to us to fulfil these tasks, through our public service commission for the ski area’s development and operations. Today, we are at the start of a transition. The signs of climate change are even more visible in the mountains and a source of concern for our future activity. In this increasingly urbanised world, never has the need to be closer to nature been more strongly felt. Our high-altitude regions and our installations make it easier to reconnect with the natural elements, both in winter and summer. And more than ever before, we are here to put that revitalising breath of fresh air within your reach and to make it possible for you to boost your energy in the heart of our mountains.
SERMA promises to preserve this magnificent playground and to make it accessible to everyone:
Preserving our natural resources
Snow and water
How do we manage our snow reserves and save water?
- By protecting our natural snow as much as possible in order to reduce our needs in artificial snow,
- By grassing the ski slopes to make them easier to cover with minimum amounts of snow
- By installing wooden snow barriers to keep the snow in place in spite of the wind,
- By using new technologies to gauge snow cover, optimise the way snow is spread, and streamline artificial snow production.
Landscapes
How do we keep the visual impact of our installations to a minimum?
- By dismantling any obsolete equipment,
- By ensuring our installations blend into the landscape.
- By systematically revegetalising our slopes, using local species whenever possible,
- By restoring natural landscapes and habitats
Biodiversity
How do we protect our ecosystem?
Since 2018, we have set up a fauna and flora observatory in order to:
- List and monitor species,
- Identify sensitive areas,
- Draw up our action plans accordingly.
Reducing our impact
Decreasing power consumption
Electricity is our highest expenditure item. Our areas of development are aimed at:
- Investing in equipment that is less energy-intensive
- Reducing the speed of our ski lifts when there is less demand, while closely monitoring our electricity consumption,
- Producing clean energy, with the installation of solar panels, the funding of a micro power station, and an ongoing study on wind energy.
Reducing our carbon footprint
We keep the CO2 emissions of our snow groomers to a minimum by:
- Optimising schedules in order to achieve high-quality slopes with fewer visits by the snow groomers,
- Training our drivers in eco-driving techniques,
- Computerising our monitoring of energy use,
- Participating in research projects on alternative energies.
Improving our waste management
Besides the recycling bins at your disposal around the ski area, we also use other ways of encouraging eco-responsible behaviour…
- Ski-area cleaning days,
- Recycling of waste to revegetalise the slopes (horse manure from the Avoriaz stables, mud from the mountain reservoirs, etc.)
- Paperless procedures throughout our organisation.
Green energy
The Tourist Office, the Aquariaz, the golf course and the squash & boulder have switched to 100% green electricity.
They support the production of electricity from wind, water, solar and bioenergy sources….
SNOWSAT What is it?
Snowsat is a GPS-based management software. It has been installed in all our snow groomers to take various snow readings and measure energy consumption, in order to optimise schedules for the snow groomers and snow cannons.
Experience unspoilt mountains
SERMA, a local employer brand
We help to maintain employment in our regions by:
- Offering jobs that cannot be relocated
- Giving priority to local suppliers whenever possible
- Also participating in community life by offering skiing possibilities for school groups, and supporting sports activities and local associations.
Immersion in a preserved natural environment
We have our hearts set on keeping our ski area as nature designed it, and making the most of the exceptional views of our mountains. This is why we create:
- ungroomed but safe snowcross ski areas
- snowparks with wooden modules (Stash and Lil’Stash)
- tree huts and picnic areas in the forest
- cross-country skiing trails
Access to the mountains for as many people as possible
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