Protect Our Winters
ABOUT US
OUR MISSION IS TO ENGAGE AND MOBILIZE THE SNOWSPORTS COMMUNITY TO LEAD THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE. OUR FOCUS IS ON EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES, ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY-BASED ACTIVISM.
The past decade has been the warmest on record, with 2015 the warmest year ever. Meanwhile, the northern hemisphere has already lost a million square miles of spring snowpack since 1970—an area the size of three Texases. Snow levels are rising and winters are shorter. Climate change is already affecting winter.
By 2007, pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones found that more and more resorts he’d always counted on for good riding were closed due to lack of snow. Something was clearly going on, and he felt the need to act. But he couldn’t find any organizations focused on mobilizing the snowsports community on climate — there was a gap between the impacts that climate change was already having on our mountains, and any organized action being taken to address it. And so Jeremy founded Protect Our Winters.
Soon afterwards, we brought on other concerned pro athletes, individuals, resorts and winter sports companies. The result: the kernel of a social movement on climate, designed to activate a passionate community and create the political will for meaningful action by state and federal policymakers.
And what better place to germinate a movement than the snowsports community, which includes world renowned athletes, respected, and beloved businesses, and is defined, above all, by passion and energy.
This was the perfect group to give a national voice to winter tourism, an industry that supports 900,000+ jobs and creates $66 billion in economic revenue. While the fossil fuel lobby may outspend environmentalists 20-1 in Washington, we share a passion that crosses party lines, a unique perspective that de-politicizes any climate discussion, and an industry with an economic impact that can’t be ignored.
Our key formula for engaging 60 million snowsports enthusiasts globally: relevance and authenticity.
Though we can dress up for meetings, in the end we are pro athletes, dirtbags and diehards; for us, winter is not just a passion, but a way of life.
If we’re going to save our sport, our industry, our resorts and our mountain communities from the effects of climate change, it’s time to take action, together.
Protect Our Winters is the leading climate advocacy group for the snowsports community. We’re building a movement against climate change. Please join us.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
We’re building a social movement against climate change by leveraging the influence and reach, economic might and the passion of individuals, professional athletes, companies and resorts. With the entire snowsports community engaged and speaking as one, we’re moving the climate conversation forward, with the most unique and powerful voices leading the way.
OUR WORK
OUR PROGRAMS UNITE AND MOBILIZE THE GLOBAL SNOWSPORTS COMMUNITY AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE.
The outdoor community has a disproportionate influence because of its profile, newsworthiness, economic influence and the passion of the participants, athletes and businesses involved. We are uniquely suited to drive a broad movement in support of climate action and our success stems from our ability to effectively mobilize the outdoor community through socially-relevant communications, led by the influencers in our sports. Outdoor sports is a way for the public to understand the consequences of climate change, and what we stand to gain by stopping it, or lose by failing to.
POW’s work is uniquely influential and important because climate activism has been missing a strong social movement, like what helped pass civil rights legislation, labor protections, women’s voting rights, or most recently, marriage equality. POW is one of only a few groups focused on building this social movement.
POW works creatively and opportunistically and focuses on three main areas: youth education, advocacy and community-based activism.
