photo by Scott DW Smith/Imagesmith
Sick peaks, healthy planet
Alumni interview
interview by Jules Older
At alisongannett.com you’ll find not just a single résumé, but a bike résumé, a ski résumé, and a green résumé for the site’s namesake. A 1988 magna cum laude grad of UVM, Alison Gannett is a world champion free skier who meshes her environmental and athletic careers through initiatives such as founding the Save Our Snow Foundation, which seeks to reduce and offset greenhouse gases, slow global warming’s thaw, and preserve snow for future generations. Gannett’s ability to work hard for the Earth’s health while still, by all appearances, having far more than her fair share of fun is a trick impressive as anything you’ve seen her turn in a ski film. Ski journalist Jules Older ’62 recently caught up with Gannett for a conversation at her home in Crested Butte, Colorado.
VQ: Tell us about you and UVM.
AG: The environmental program was one of the best in the country. Bill Eddy, teaching Environmental Perspectives, really opened my eyes. After college, I moved out West to Crested Butte where I started my green consulting business, Sunseekers Design.
VQ: Tell us about the sport of extreme skiing.
AG: I have an overactive brain that likes to do ten things at once. When I’m skiing something insanely hard, my mind has to focus on the here-and-now, somewhat like Buddhist meditation. On the flip side, I wanted to prove that girls could ski lines as hard as the guys.
VQ: What drew you to this insane sport?
AG: I was discovered in 1995 in Crested Butte by a Warren Miller film crew while freeskiing the Headwall. They talked me into competing, and I went out on a limb and quit my jobs to go to the World Championships in Alaska. It took me four years to mentally figure out how to win, and to overcome my lack of confidence in myself. My backcountry mountaineering experiences in Vermont and New Hampshire, combined with the technical aspects from ski racing, really gave me an edge in the big mountains.
VQ: What got you interested in global warming?
AG: I have always been fighting for the environment, as a kid, but especially after my studies at UVM. I focused on policy change locally in Crested Butte and on illustrating that buildings could save energy and still be affordable. In 2002, I realized that I needed to think bigger, and founded the Office for Resource Efficiency or ORE (www.resource efficiency.org) to create a one-stop shop for energy efficiency and alternative energy in my county.
VQ: Just how committed are you?
AG: I won’t stop until we find a sustainable balance for the entire planet, or at least try to. I feel that the weight of the world is on my shoulders and that a small group of dedicated individuals is capable of creating immense change. I started with my life, then my town, then my county, and now the ski industry, then onto other water causes such as surfing and kayaking. My Save Our Snow Foundation (www.saveoursnowfoundation.org) is dedicated to saving our surf, snow, and water for future generations.
VQ: Is saving snow really so important?
AG: Snow and glacial melt supplies 40 percent of the world’s drinking water, therefore saving our snow is extremely important to ecosystem and human survival. To get people to change, I feel that we have to make global warming visible and create an emotional bond to losing something we love. Love of snow is something people can relate to, while the Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica dropping into the ocean is too distant and impersonal.
VQ: The usual phrase is, “Think globally, act locally.” You seem to take it one step further—thinking and acting globally, thinking and acting locally.
AG: I see everything with a carbon and social footprint. For instance, I may see a pretty shirt, but then think of the sweatshops that I’ve seen in Sri Lanka, and of the cotton growers in Africa using more pesticides than for any other crop. The purchase then seems less rewarding, and I think about the good I can do with the purchase of an organic, pretty Water Girl dress instead.
VQ: How do you start living green?
AG: Start small. Start by changing bulb by bulb in your house to CFL or LED—you’ll save on your electric bill and save at least 1,300 pounds of carbon. Ultimately, we need to take the AIA 2030 Challenge. The American Institute of Architects has recommended that all new buildings be 50 percent more efficient than code, and use zero energy by 2030. I do something on my efficient straw house each year to reduce my bills even further, moving towards the 2030 goal of being free from petroleum.
VQ: What’s next for Alison Gannett?
AG: I’m headed to Europe and Pakistan to photo document glacial recession and ski some sick peaks.
(for UVM staff)