Finding an alternative to flying to your ski destination will certainly reduce your carbon footprint, but it’s easy to be put off by ticket prices for ’s special ‘ski train’ eurostar.com that connects London to Bourg-St-Maurice via Lille; a family of four can spend between £1,100 and £1,500 for a return trip. It isn’t the only rail option, though, as long as you plan ahead.

For destinations in France or Switzerland, consider going via Paris. Eurostar offer advance fares for as little as £35 one way and hold flash sales around three times a year. From Gare de Lyon, advance tickets to Grenoble – which connects to resorts such as Les Deux Alps or Alpe d’Huez – can be as cheap as £17 one way. Prices are similar for Bourg St Maurice or Geneva, giving access to the French and Swiss Alps without having to factor in extra costs for luggage.

For resorts in Italy and Austria, the overnight train comes into its own. During February and March, europeansleeper.eu run a Belgium to Italy overnight service from £99 one way (including couchette), with a 7pm departure from Brussels. The train connects with Innsbruck and the Italian town of Bolzano before trundling off to Venice. From Innsbruck, skiers can access Tirolean resorts such as Kitzbühel, Ischgl and Mayrhofen. An alternative is to go via Munich (also served by the overnight route) and head from there to Zurich and on to the Swiss resorts of Davos Klosters (3h 20 mins by train), or Flims Laax (2h 30 mins).

Globally, flights account for around 2 per cent of carbon emissions, but the built environment, which includes construction, can be responsible for as much as 37 per cent of global annual carbon consumption, so finding genuinely low-carbon accommodation is an important step towards meeting net zero standards.

Hydropower may make up the lion’s share of sustainable energy in the Alps but it isn’t the only source of renewable energy. Bad Gastein, in Austria’s Hohe Tauern mountains, has used geothermal energy to help heat homes for over 100 years. In nearby Bad Hofgastein, thermenhotels-gastein.com makes use of solar in the summer, and thermal heat from water is collected in retention basins to generate heat for the hotels. Indeed, promising ‘not a drop’ of the thermal water it uses is wasted, Thermenhotels’ Alpentherme is set to become one of the first zero-emissions spas in Austria. Water emerges from the Alps at Bad Gastein at 47C and, by adapting the hydraulics for the spa and enlarging the heating coils that were fed by the thermal springs, they save up to 370 tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of 1,000 return flights from London to Salzburg. They also installed 975 solar panels on the roof of the Alpentherme in 2023 to help generate 400kw of power, which in summer is fed into the grid.

Other destinations taking advantage of thermal waters include Obereggen in the Dolomites, where the mountain hut oberholz.com – at 2,096m above sea level – is geothermally powered.

For the adventurous sustainable skier, Iceland’s is possibly one of the more unusual spots for low-carbon activities. There are no ski lifts to carry you aloft – just open terrain, hot mud pools and cabins powered by geothermal energy. Only two styles of skiing work here: backcountry or cross country; but your holiday is guaranteed to be unforgettable.

Trains, hotels and ski lifts are one thing, but can an entire resort go carbon neutral? This was the challenge set by in 2021 to make the town Switzerland’s first climate-neutral holiday resort by the end of the decade. Alongside reducing its emissions, Davos has invested in carbon offset projects and partnered with climate organisation Myclimate to pursue a net zero strategy.

When it comes to dining, it makes sense to pick resorts that rely on local suppliers and promote sustainable farming practices.

The Swiss resort of has taken the concept of agritourism to the next level. From launching an annual pan-Alpine food festival for producers, to building a specialist beekeeping facility to highlight the threat to bees, their aim is to establish sustainable agritourism as a mainstay alongside winter sports in the Val de Bagnes.

On a smaller but no less impressive scale, individual hotels are also working hard to minimise the impact on the planet of their culinary exploits. In Austria, Tirolean falkensteiner.com has committed to using local produce and a slow-food menu at its 7Summit restaurant; while in Obergurgl edelweiss-gurgl.com has launched its own vegan ski-fit menu for those who want more planet-friendly, plant-forward options.

Nothing tops serving food from your own farm, however. Fourth-generation-run Chez Pépé Nicolas is located amid mountain pastures between Les Menuires and Val Thorens in the heart of Les Trois Vallées ski area. gb.chezpepenicolas.com

Lift companies across the Alps have begun reworking their operations to ensure lifts are more efficient and less dependant on diesel engines. The main advantage resorts have is ample amounts of hydropower.

Climate change is expected to see the snowline in the Alps rise in the coming decades, which will mean a smaller area of the mountain range is covered in snow. This, in turn, means over the spring there is less snow to melt slowly into water and feed rivers. Managing water use – including the snow on pistes – is therefore essential. Some resorts, such as in France, are employing drones to scan the mountains and work out where artificial snow is needed to save on snow cannon use.

The Austrian resort of has installed a GPS-controlled slope management system for preparing its pistes, measuring the ski slopes to the centimetre during the summer months, which allows for better snow management and lower energy use. Other resorts have adopted a term known as snow farming to build up banks of snow. maintains year-round skiing

due to the glacier that straddles the mountain at 3,400m up. The resort heaps snow into piles at the high altitudes during peak winter months and uses the snow stockpile to maintain the pistes during the warmer months, reducing the need for snow cannons. in Switzerland also piles high-altitude snow on the 3,800m-high plateau near the Klein Matterhorn. Since the piles have a larger mass, they melt more slowly.

Sustainably-minded hotels are also finding ever more ingenious ways to reduce water use: the rocksresort.com in Laax, Switzerland, for instance, have replaced their bathroom flush with a dry system.

For fliers, shifting an entire extra suitcase of jackets and salopettes isn’t just a pain, but adds to the weight and thus the carbon cost of any flight. But although equipment hire is common, renting ski clothing hasn’t really been possible until recently. It can be particularly useful for families who have to buy outfits every couple of years for growing kids.