A COVID-19 vaccination card serves as an unusual “message in a bottle” among 780 pounds of debris uncovered at Colorado’s Breckenridge Ski Resort, where the melting snow revealed a museum of forgotten items from ski poles to kitchen utensils.
Key Takeaways
- Breckenridge Ski Resort’s post-season cleanup recovered 780 pounds of trash hidden under winter snow, including an eclectic array of personal items and equipment.
- Over 150 employees participated in the cleanup effort, making it both an environmental initiative and a team-building exercise.
- Among the unusual discoveries were an iPod Nano, ski poles, broken phones, a kitchen spatula, and a COVID-19 vaccination card described as a “message in a bottle.”
- The cleanup effort is part of a larger trend at ski resorts, with Stevens Pass in Washington seeing record volunteer participation this year.
Treasures and Trash: What Lurks Beneath the Snow
As winter’s grip loosens on America’s ski resorts, the pristine white slopes reveal their hidden secrets. At Colorado’s Breckenridge Ski Resort, the annual Mountain Cleanup Day became an archeological expedition of modern times, with staff recovering an astonishing 780 pounds of items lost or discarded during the busy ski season. The collection included everyday items like ski poles and broken phones, alongside more peculiar finds such as a kitchen spatula, a driver’s license, and a Canadian two-dollar coin – all preserved under layers of snow until the summer melt.
The most intriguing discovery was what staff jokingly referred to as a “message in a bottle” – an old COVID-19 vaccination card. The find sparked humorous speculation among the cleanup crew, who imagined messages ranging from “Drink your Ovaltine” to desperate pleas for rescue. This unusual time capsule represents just one example of the strange assortment of personal belongings that accumulate on mountainsides throughout the winter season, only to resurface months later.
Environmental Responsibility with Team Spirit
The cleanup effort attracted over 150 Breckenridge employees who combined environmental stewardship with workplace camaraderie. “In addition to being the right thing to do for our mountain, it’s also a fun paid event to connect with our teammates [and] see what wacky items may have been lost in the season’s powder days,” Maxwell Winter, Senior Communications Manager at the lodge, told the Post. This approach transforms what could be a mundane maintenance task into an engaging activity that strengthens workplace bonds while addressing environmental concerns.
“They said their ‘most unique find’ was a note in a bottle, which the Breckenridge crew joked said everything from ‘Drink your Ovaltine’ to ‘Stuck in a bottle, send help,’ according to Winter,” said Winter.
The Breckenridge cleanup reflects a growing trend among ski resorts to take environmental stewardship seriously. Similar efforts at Stevens Pass ski resort in Washington, organized in partnership with the National Forest Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service, drew a record number of nearly 150 volunteers this year. These initiatives align with broader industry commitments to sustainability, such as Vail Resorts’ Commitment to Zero program, which aims to eliminate emissions by 2030.
A Growing Tradition of Conservation
At Stevens Pass, where cleanup efforts have been ongoing since 2011, volunteers discovered equally interesting items, including rusted metal, wire, rope, and even an arrow from a recent archery event. The most notable find there was a credit-card sized annual resort pass from 1999, which earned its discoverer a $50 gift card. These cleanup events highlight the surprising accumulation of debris that occurs at popular outdoor recreation sites, much of which remains invisible until environmental conditions change.
“It gets buried in the snow, and in the summer it melts out,” said Jennifer Carlson.
The Breckenridge cleanup story gained traction on social media after being shared in a viral Facebook post, sparking conversations about personal items lost on ski slopes and generating humorous comments from users. Many shared their own anecdotes about beloved gear that disappeared during powder days, creating a sense of shared experience among winter sports enthusiasts. The discussion highlighted how common it is to lose personal belongings in snowy conditions, while also raising awareness about the environmental impact of these losses when items aren’t recovered.
