How to have a sustainable family ski holiday: take the train and head high

Cut out flying and you shred skiing’s carbon footprint. And opting for a high-altitude resort that needs less artificial snow makes it even greener. Les Arcs in the French Alps ticks both boxes

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’ve always wanted to try skiing, but it’s not a cheap holiday and I have always had a lingering suspicion that some resorts are like Las Vegas in the mountains, with artificial snow, damaging infrastructure, annihilated vegetation and air-freighted fine dining – in short, profoundly unsustainable.

However, if there’s a way to have a green family ski holiday, then sign me – and my husband, Joe, two kids and my mum – up. Here’s how to do it.

Travel usually makes up the largest part of your ski trip’s environmental impact. “The greenest ski resort is the one you get to without flying,” says Dom Winter from Protect Our Winters UK, a charity whose mission is to rally the outdoor community to take meaningful climate action. You can get to the French Alps by train, so that’s where we’re heading.