Litter on the piste

Pointing at a cigarrete packet from the chair lift my ski instructor last year told me that when the snow melts the mountain is covered in rubish - I just found the report below - I didn't realise it was this bad. It's disgusting.


Found: 30,000 cigarette butts
9th September 2009

At the end of last season 3500 of you slipped on gloves and walking boots, grabbed a bin bag, and went up into the mountains to collect more than 30 tonnes of rubbish.

Mountain Riders, an organization which raises awareness about environmental issues, invited volunteers from around the globe to pick up dropped piste maps, goggles, poles, rubbish and all kinds of guilty secrets that were uncovered when the snow melted. Over 50 resorts took part in the annual spring clean which found more than 30,000 cigarette butts under just one chairlift in the Alps.

Mountain Riders started out in 2000 when a group of friends cleaned up their local slopes after the winter season. Ten years on, it collected over 50 tonnes of rubbish in 52 different resorts across France and the UK. As well as running the clean up sessions they produce The Eco Guide to Ski Resorts which gives a comprehensive and straight-forward evaluation of what 110 resorts are doing to help the limit their impact on the environment.

I forgot to add though - well done to Mountain Riders it sounds like a great scheme to clean up the mountains.

Once when I was diving in Egypt they had a morning of free dives to go and collect rubbish from the reef (mainly plastic bags and plastic water bottles) Maybe the ski resorts could come up with a scheme for a free days lift pass if people went litter collecting.

I saw this on the Ski Club site, absolutely unbelievable - 30,000 fag butts under ONE chair lift!

Littering in general is a disgusting habit, to do it in the mountains should be punishable by hanging.

Dirty b*stards.

Rant over.

Smoking is the disgusting habit

You are right about smoking - Don't you hate it when you are on a chair lift, surounded by beautiful mountains covered in snow just wanting to breathe in the fresh alpine air - then the person on the chair infront of you lights up and your chairlift drags you through their cloud of smoke.

Tony_H wrote:Smoking is the disgusting habit

Closely followed by littering.

Why do people feel the need to drop litter and cigarette ends? Is it really so difficult to walk/ski to the nearest bin?

Nelly, I agree with you wholeheartedly - hanging is the way forward )

Funny thing is im betting this is one unsociable activity that cant be solely blamed on the Brits abroad for a change. Im pretty certain that British skiers smoke less than our European counterparts these days.