Industry News
Telluride Ski Resort could be in for a bumpy start of the 2025-26 season, as the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association (TPSPA) has authorized a strike against Telluride (Telski). The potential strike comes as a result of their fight for a fair contract for employees after their last contract expired in August 2025.
The TPSPA recently voted unanimously to authorize a strike to secure what they believe would be a fair contract. The TPSPA feels supported by the community of Telluride, as residents and resort guests seem to value the important work of the ski patrollers. As the negotiations continue, the TPSPA continues coming to work in preparation for the mountain to open on December 6. They hope Telski will negotiate fairly and deliver what the TPSPA feels that they deserve.
The union is requesting a 30% increase in wages, but Telski has different opinions. Their most recent offering was an increase of 2.5%. The ski patrollers believe that what Telski is offering doesn’t adequately compensate for what their day-to-day jobs look like, nor does it address the rising cost of living. The work of ski patrol is physically and mentally demanding, often dealing with avalanche mitigation and assisting injured skiers and riders.
Even without a contract, ski patrollers have completed preseason training totaling 40 hours per patroller of required assessment and written exams. These include emergency backcountry medicine, snow safety, avalanche control, lift evacuation, and rescue drills.
The last scheduled negotiation session is on December 6. The union is hoping for significant progress so a strike can be avoided. If a compromise isn’t reached, a strike might be imminent. Telski has begun hiring “scabs,” or non-union ski patrollers, willing to work at Telluride in the event of a strike. In order to attract the scabs, Telluride will have to pay them more than the local ski patrollers who have years of knowledge of Colorado’s most extreme terrain. When scabs patrol the mountain, resort operators often have trouble operating the mountain to the same standard as the local ski patrollers and may be required to keep large swaths of advanced terrain closed.
The current issues at Telluride reflect a national movement to organize labor in an effort to secure higher wages and better working conditions for people who work on ski mountains. Resorts like Park City, Keystone, and Breckenridge have been working to address the gap between resort earnings and the treatment of their workforce. At each of those resorts, unions were able to secure better contracts with management. Stay tuned to see if the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association will be able to do the same for their members.
