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Peak Retreats
Peak Retreats only operates holidays to the French Alps. We love the beautiful places we feature and we want to keep them this way. We believe in acting responsibly to preserve the environment where we can.
As more travellers look for ways to reduce their environmental impact, these are the reasons why we think that holidaying in the French Alps can help.
We are keen to help travellers get to the French Alps by train. We can take the hassle out of booking your train travel to get to the mountains whether in summer or winter.
We can book the Eurostar to Lille or Paris and connecting trains down to the Alps, we can even advise on the best route across Paris when changing stations – because we’ve done it ourselves.
In the winter, we can also book the Eurostar Snow service with a seamless platform change in Lille. Travelling by train makes the journey part of your holiday and saves carbon emissions compared with flying. Carbon footprint data from Protect our Winters, which was shared on SkiFlightFree, shows that travelling by train rather than by plane can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 95%.
As France is so close, the journey to the French Alps can be done by ground transport, allowing you to make a more environmentally friendly choice. Cross the channel on Eurotunnel Le Shuttle or by ferry then drive down to the mountains. This also means you can take everything you might need with you.
The same emissions data from Protect our Winters on SkiFlightFree showed that choosing to take the car with a family of four can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 62% compared with flying.
If you’ve driven to the mountains, rather than use the car to get around, most resorts have a shuttle bus service around resort connecting accommodation, lifts and village centres. Some of these use electric vehicles or ones powered by bio-fuels.
Resorts are designed to be walkable and often have compact, pedestrian-friendly centres. Some of our resorts have a car-free centre, which makes them ideal for families with young children.
Four ways that resorts are trying to make a difference.
Resorts are getting more savvy regarding reusable water bottles. More and more have easy to access places to fill your own water bottle up throughout the day and restaurants and cafés are often happy to oblige too.
Compost toilets on the slopes in some resorts are being used to reduce water usage. Studies have shown that by slowing lifts a tiny amount from 6m/second to 4m/second, electricity consumption can be reduced by almost 50%. This only increases the travel time on the lift by around 90 seconds, which most people wouldn’t notice, but makes a huge difference to the electricity used and is something that selected resorts are actioning.
France is, very much like the UK, an environmentally-aware country. Recycling is widespread. Just like at home, you can sort your waste and deposit it in the communal bins dotted around resorts.
Look out for measures resorts are taking to protect wildlife, such as designating areas where black grouse may be nesting and ensuring that they are undisturbed. More communication on these measures and local campaigns are helping to educate visitors about the need to protect mountain flora and fauna.
Mountain destinations are increasingly looking at renewable energy solutions for their power needs. According to the French government, at least 48 lift companies have comitted to reducing their CO2 emissions by using exclusively renewable energy sources, including hydroelectricity, wind power and photovoltaics.
Solar panels are used on lift stations, piste groomers are being introduced that can run on cooking oil, and cutting-edge technology is being used for snow maintenance.
France is famous for its food and wine. Most of the food, fruits & vegetables available in resorts come from within the country, therefore avoiding damaging carbon emitting imports.
A new generation of chefs are adding more plant-based dishes to menus and focusing on quality, local and seasonal produce.
France’s ski areas came together in October 2020 to product an environmental road map of 16 eco-commitments to help protect the mountains. One of their objectives was to acheive carbon neutrality by 2037.
Mountain Riders, an organisation set up in 2001 to raise awareness and educate on environment matters in the mountains, has partnered with companies and institutions, including Atout France and the ESF, as well as individual resorts, to a national charter commitment to achieve zero litter on the mountain by 2030.
The Flocon Vert, which translates as green snowflake, is a certification that recognises resorts that have made a conscious choice to support responsible tourism. It was set up by Mountain Riders. As well as environmental initiatives, they focus on engaging their communities in the transition to a more sustainable future.
We feature 19 resorts that have the Flocon Vert. Read more about some of the work they are doing here.
How our UK team tries to minimise our impact.
We act responsibly in our own UK office to minimise our environmental impact. As many of our team live locally, lots of us walk or cycle to work. We recycle everything we can from food waste to soft plastics and we find new homes for pre-loved office equipment when we don’t need it anymore.
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