The sustainable steamboat, part 1: the green is in the details at Trappeur’s Crossing Resort

March 1, 5:54 PMDenver Sustainable City ExaminerSusanna Speier

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Denver Sustainable City Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

My Northern Colorado, Steamboat Springs getaway was about as sustainable as it gets...getaway-wise. 

Meaning that, yes, I drove there.  Drove there in a borrowed gas guzzling SUV, no less.  This carbon footprint, of rather Brobdingnagian proportion, however, was soon karmic-ally nullified however, by the fact it enabled the rescue of a small two door car, belonging to a --fine... just frightened-- father, mother and baby whose two wheel drive, plus blizzard, had spun them in a snowy ditch on the side of the interstate. 

Much as I'd love to take singlehanded credit for this rescue, it was my small-town raised boyfriend who insisted we pull over so he could get out and push.  The several concerned drivers who soon pulled up behind us and the van with the winch deserve credit, as well. 

The sky was dark, deep-Wedgwood by this time.  Everywhere snow.  The slow and cautious speed this necessitated kicked us further behind schedule but then finally we reached the outskirts.  Solar powered digital speed limit signs welcomed us and the corner Conoco, to my surprise, was promoting Bobo Bars in lieu of Cheetos on the display shelves.  It wasn’t until I the green light above the biodegradable key card slot clicked me into my weekend Trappeur's Crossing suite, however, that I really felt the depth of this communities’ dedication to sustainability.

The suite was deliciously earthy.  It was luxurious but not ostentatiously so.  Sustainability was clearly the Gold Level boasting point.  A Gold Level boasting point that was actively nourished and justified.  Locally manufactured Yepello chocolates had been placed beside a decorative pine cone bowl.  Each of the room's lamp supply was bountiful; as were the windows and balconies with views of snow-covered pinetree and mountains beyond. Technology was amped, where appropriate.  LCD television screens and sound system and laser projected atomic clock was, thankfully, state of the art.  The blizzard had made the drive there an exceptionally long one.  I slept soundly and splendidly.

Click here to read The sustainable steamboat, part 2

Click here to read The sustainable steamboat, part 3

If you'd like to read more eco-friendly hotel reviews by this writer, check out Green Valentine: part 1

And here is where you click if you want to read a fanciful account of the writer's snowshoeing expedition in Steamboat

.