Employee Planting Days

The Alta Environmental Center (AEC) was created in 2008 to guide the ski area's sustainability efforts and look after the natural environment in which we operate. As stewards of the land, Alta is committed to matching any modifications to ski area's land with restoration efforts of equal magnitude. To support this initiative, the AEC stays busy in the summer with revegetation and restoration projects across the mountain—working diligently to preserve and enhance what makes Alta, Alta

Since 1991, Alta Ski Area and the AEC have planted more than 43,000 trees and 120,000 plants around the ski area.

Each summer, employees from various departments at Alta Ski Area participate in Employee Planting Days. These events allow our Alta family to connect and get our hands dirty, giving back to the mountain that brings us all together.

These three Employee Planting Days represent just a small fraction of the work that the AEC puts in all summer, but they are an essential part of the mission to protect and improve the well-being of our mountain environment.

2025 Employee Planting Days

The Collins Study Plot recorded a perfectly average total of 538 inches of snowfall during the 2024–25 season. Despite one of the driest summers in recent memory, Alta was busy with major construction projects—including the Supreme realignment, Wyssen Tower installations and updating aging utility and snowmaking lines. To continue our restoration commitments, the AEC aimed to plant 11,000 native plant seedlings and 1,500 tree saplings before the first hard freeze.

The AEC's Anna Lee helps Christa Pottenger from the Ticket & Season Pass Office with a new seedling | Photo: Lexi Dowdall

On July 10, 2025, Alta employees joined the AEC on the top of Supreme to plant 1,200 native seedlings in the Upper Sleepy Hollow ski run. In the summer of 2023, Upper Sleepy Hollow was regraded to smooth out erosive gullies along the ski run, which were caused by steep slopes and overgrazing by sheep in the late 1800s. By regrading the slope, skiers can enjoy this area earlier in the season while reducing snow loss due to wind erosion.

This year marks the second year of a three-year restoration project, which will receive 4,450 native plants each year until its completion in 2026. By planting native plant seedlings, we support restoration efforts that help reduce soil erosion, enhance water filtration and promote the growth of native vegetation in the surrounding area.

Demitri Dobaj and Jon White from Alta's IT department introduce native seedlings to their new home on Upper Sleepy Hollow | Photo: Lexi Dowdall

On August 14, 2025, the AEC and fellow Alta employees returned to the lower section of Sleepy Hollow, planting 697 plant seedlings. Due to the persistent dry conditions, some dedicated employees hiked steep terrain with heavy water tanks to wet planting areas, helping the seedlings settle into their new homes.

This year marked the third and final year of restoration efforts in this zone, during which it received roughly 8,940 plants. The AEC will continue to monitor this site and conduct invasive species removal for years to come.

Chef Annie Mattison found a sunny, sheltered spot for Alta's newest Engelmann spruce | Photo: Lexi Dowdall

The final Employee Planting Day of 2025 focused on reforestation efforts in the Eagle's Nest area—planting 80 Engelmann spruce and 264 Douglas fir saplings. In 2024, the AEC harvested over 100 Engelmann spruce saplings from groomed runs to increase their chances of survival. After spending a year in our on-site tree nursery, 80 of these saplings were transplanted into shaded areas. Additionally, 264 Douglas fir saplings—grown by seeds collected in the Wasatch—were planted in sunnier, more exposed areas below Eagle's Nest. Although this is one of the more challenging plantings we undertake, the satisfaction of contributing to the strengthening of Alta's delicate forest ecosystem makes the effort worthwhile.

AEC team member Anna Lee prepares to plant a Douglas fir sapling | Photo: Adam Fehr

1. July 10th: 1,200 native seedlings planted in Upper Sleepy Hollow
2. August 14th: 697 native seedlings planted in Sleepy Hollow
3. September 11th: 264 Douglas fir and 80 Engelmann spruce saplings planted below Eagle's Nest

2024 Employee Planting Days

Following 628 inches of seasonal snowfall, the Alta Environmental Center again had to wait a little longer than usual to begin its summer revegetation and reforestation efforts. Again, they set an ambitious goal of planting over 12,000 native plant seedlings around the mountain.

On a mid-July day, a crew of six AEC team members set a new daily record by planting over 1,600 plants. A new bar had been set and the first Summer Employee Planting Day of 2024 had a new goal: to see if a team of 25 summer employees could break the newly minted record.

AEC team member Anna Lee carries seedlings on the first Employee Planting Day of 2024 | Photo: Adam Fehr

On July 18th, 2024, Alta employees managed to plant 2,095 native plant seedlings on Nina's. With some additional help from a stretch of dry weather and above-average spring and summer temperatures, the AEC was able to put all 12,000 plants in the ground by the end of July.

Replanting Nina's, one seedling at a time | Photo: Adam Fehr

The second Employee Planting Day of 2024 was held on August 15th. The AEC team took a crew of Alta employees to the Sleepy Hollow run near the Supreme lift to pull invasive weeds and plant snowberry shrubs. These efforts will help revegetate the new area of Sleepy Hollow following a slope-regrading project during the summer of 2023.

Building Maintenance employee Sean Kivlin plants a shrub on Sleepy Hollow | Photo: Adam Fehr

The third and final Employee Planting Day was held on September 19th—a chilly morning on the heels of the season's first snowfall. Alta summer employees and the AEC crew transplanted harvest trees from the Albion Nursery to an area near the base of Sugarloaf and Supreme lifts. Harvested from groomed runs and other high-traffic areas of the mountain, 105 harvested saplings found a new home in the Albion Basin.

Transplanting harvested trees near Sugarloaf following the first snow of the season | Photo: Anna Lee

1. July 18th: 2,095 native plant seedlings planted on Nina's
2. August 15th: 202 shrubs and shrublings planted on Sleepy Hollow
3. September 19th: 105 harvested trees replanted near Sugarloaf

2023 Employee Planting Days

Despite a record-breaking 903 inches of snowfall followed by one of the wettest summers in the past decade, the AEC remained steadfast in its efforts to revegetate the slopes of Alta. The AEC started the summer of 2023 with the goal of planting 12,740 native plant seedlings—a goal that eventually grew to over 14,000 plants when Dryland Horticulture offered Alta some surplus seedlings.

Video: Tyler Struss

Fortunately, the AEC wasn’t doing all of the digging and heavy lifting alone. Between Community Volunteer Days and planting events with our partner organizations, Alta skiers and community members volunteered their time to plant seedlings around the mountain.

Video: Tyler Struss

The AEC also enlisted the help of Alta Ski Area summer employees through two Employee Planting Days.

1. June 29th: 1,140 native plant seedlings planted
2. August 10th: 296 native plant seedlings planted

These two Employee Planting Days are a small part of a larger effort to plant 3,000 native seedlings on Nina’s every year for three years. The revegetation efforts are already paying off, as Nina’s is already seeing noticeable growth. Once the snow starts falling, these plants will lie dormant until the late spring when we’ll again take a break from the office to check in on this summer’s planting efforts and put some more native plants in the ground.

In late August 2023, the AEC accomplished its goal of planting all 14,000 native plant seedlings on the slopes—an average of 1,600 plants per week. Next time you’re skiing on the slopes of Collins Gulch say a few words of encouragement to the sleeping native plant seedlings under all the snow.

2022 Employee Planting Days

A new restoration project on Nina's was added to the AEC's to-do list. This slope, which was regraded in the summer of 2021 would require thousands of plants over the next three years. In the summer of 2022, the AEC enlisted the help of Alta Ski Area employees to plant native seedlings on Nina's for its first year of restoration.

1. July 13th: 588 native plant seedlings planted
2. August 31st: 756 native plant seedlings planted

Nikki Baldassari & Julia Cloward digging holes on Nina's | Photo: Rocko Menzyk

Alta Ski Patroller Andrew McCloskey puts another seedling in the ground | Photo: Rocko Menzyk

During the summer of 2022, Alta Ski Area's employees helped the AEC put 1,344 native plant seedlings in the ground over two beautiful mountain mornings.