Middlebury, VT - Renewing is as important as creating new in the case of Vermont's Middlebury College Snow Bowl. After becoming the first totally carbon neutral ski area in the country in 2006-07, the Snow Bowl will offset all of its carbon emissions again this year as a new state-of-the-art ski racing scoreboard will adorn the slopes and cross-country ski trails are being recontoured.

Middlebury College Snow Bowl will once again this winter not only offset its own carbon emissions, but also those of skiers and snowboarders traveling to its slopes. (photo: FTO/Marc Guido)

According to John Jacobs, owner of Glens Falls, N.Y.'s Reliable Racing Supply, the Snow Bowl will become the first eastern ski area to acquire an Alge Dot-Matrix LED scoreboard that is used extensively at European ski areas. Thanks to a generous donation made by Dr. and Mrs. Steven Barron in memory of their son Adam, a Middlebury ski racer class of ’00, the Bowl will have a state of the art scoreboard. Coupled with a wireless transmitter the display will not only be used to display race results, but will also be used on a daily basis as a message board for all ski area customers.

Extensive trail work is being done this fall on the collegiate race trail at the college’s Carroll and Jane Rikert Ski Touring Center at Breadloaf. Some existing culverts are being replaced and several new culverts are being added to eliminate many waterbars that are perennially wet and tough to keep covered with snow. Some sections of the trail will also be recontoured, with the end result being a 10K trail that will hold snow better, be easier to groom effectively, and will have an overall improved skiability.

Not only does the Bowl offset the emissions associated with all sources of fuel consumption, but they also offset an estimated amount of emissions produced by customer travel. This is significant since experts contend that emissions from automobiles comprise the largest source of carbon emissions in Vermont.