In British Columbia, Skiers and Forest Conservationists Work in Tandem

"On a bright blue-sky day at Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia, I don my skis and make my way up the mountain, riding three different chairlifts to reach its lofty summit. The view from the top is instantly gratifying: Thousands of shimmering snowcapped peaks across two of the continent’s most iconic mountain ranges, the Canadian Rockies and the Columbia Mountains, wink at me from all directions. I’m standing at the apex of one of North American skiing’s Top 10 vertical drops. But that’s not what I’m here to see. I came for the trees. Panorama’s high country is home to western Canada’s first and only endangered tree: the Whitebark pine. And this resort is at the helm of a new partnership with the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada to save it."