The entire town of Madesimo shares a heating system, which from what we can gather, is a giant wood chip boiler that gets heat to peoples’ homes by pumping water or steam through insulated underground pipes. This is way cheaper and more efficient than traditional heating techniques and is becoming more and more popular throughout Europe.

Madesimo also has a pedestrianised town centre, with a road system that allows cars to bypass the central area without polluting it. During the winter, certain high altitude towns are only accessible by shuttle bus or residents to avoid traffic and air pollution.

The town runs entirely on electric power which comes from three hydroelectric dams further down the valley, and one of the mountain restaurants uses a solar powered generator and solar panels to run self sufficiently. This has sparked off a trend which has seen more Madesimo residents using solar panels, pretty cool, ey?

Madesimo is also one of the snowiest resorts in Europe, and last winter had double the base of Revelstoke, Val Thorens and Tignes, so they must be doing something right! The resort is emerging as a top European freeride resort and as a result, has started running a weekend coach service from Milan Airports, the Madesimo Express, to cut down on weekend traffic.

Check out what else Madesimo does to take care of the environment here.