Opinion: Amidst Telluride Strike Over Value of Ski Patrol Experience, Mammoth Reminds Us What Patrollers Risk Last week, Cole Murphy, an experienced Mammoth Ski Patroller, tragically lost his life as a result of injuries sustained in an in-bounds avalanche at Mammoth Mountain. At the time of the accident, Murphy and other ski patrollers were working to mitigate the risks of in-bounds avalanches, acutely heightened by the more than 60 inches of snow that had fallen in […] Zach Armstrong | January 4, 2026 1 Comment
Ski Patrollers Secure Additional Wage Increase at Eldora, CO Nearly a year after the tumultuous Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) strike and new contract ratification, Colorado’s own Eldora Ski Patrol has secured a victory in wage negotiations with POWDR Corp. After 13 months of back-and-forth talks, both sides reached a new contract on October 30—just in time for the 2025-26 season. Ski patrollers across the country are […] Industry News Miles Nagel | November 6, 2025 0 Comments
Park City Mountain, UT, Bike Patrol Votes to Unionize A summer of quiet organizing at Park City Mountain in Utah has ended in a decisive shift: the resort’s bike patrol voted to unionize, becoming the first group of summer employees at the resort to win collective bargaining rights. The move means that many patrollers who already belong to the ski patrol union in winter will now have union protections […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | September 16, 2025 0 Comments
Why Ski Patrollers at Park City Initiated The Biggest Ski Patrol Strike In History For Vail executives at Park City, Utah, December 27, 2024 started out as any other holiday would. Employees filtered in and were getting ready for the day, but at Ski Patrol Headquarters in both the Park City and Canyons base areas, the sense of normalcy would not last. Shortly after arriving, unionized patrollers read a brief statement in the locker […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | January 31, 2025 1 Comment
Arapahoe Basin, CO, Ski Patrol Votes to Unionize, Joins United Mountain Workers In a landmark decision, the Arapahoe Basin Ski Patrol Union (ABSPU) has officially voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA) 7781 United Mountain Workers, marking a significant step for the ski patrol team in their push for fair representation and better working conditions. The announcement, made via social media, highlighted the challenges faced by the patrol throughout the […] Industry News SnowBrains | January 13, 2025 0 Comments
Keystone, CO, Ski Patrol Union Pushes for Fair Pay and Better Conditions in Contract Negotiations with Vail Resorts The Keystone Ski Patrol Union (KSP) is in the midst of its first contract negotiations with Vail Resorts since unionizing last year, seeking fair wages and improved working conditions for its patrollers. With only a quarter of the proposed contract terms agreed upon so far, the union has ramped up its efforts to push for meaningful progress, highlighting frustrations over […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | January 10, 2025 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Social Media Shows Distressing Situation in Park City, UT, Amid Patrollers Strike View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alt skipatrol V4 (@alt_patrol_backup) [Updated 2:40 p.m., MST, January 6, 2025] On December 27, the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA), representing nearly 200 patrollers and mountain safety staff, initiated a strike after contract negotiations with Vail Resorts broke down. At the heart of the dispute are wages and benefits, […] Industry News Brent Glogau | January 6, 2025 2 Comments
SnowBrains Podcast Ep. 75 | Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association – A Group of 200 Taking on Vail Resorts This week, two Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) representatives joined SnowBrains to discuss its current conflict with Park City Mountain Resort owner Vail Resorts. Katie Lips is the President of the PCPSPA, and Quinn Graves is its business manager. In addition, Katie and Quinn highlighted what it takes for the ski patrollers of the largest ski resort in […] Podcasts Podcast | December 30, 2024 0 Comments
How Eldora, CO, Ski Patrollers Finally Got Their Union On March 28 and 30, ski patrollers from Eldora, Colorado, finally had a chance to vote on forming a union in their workplace. The patrollers from Eldora have faced fierce anti-union activity from resort management and Powdr, Eldora’s parent company, but have diligently continued to work towards better compensation and better working conditions. While the union vote was not the […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | June 5, 2024 0 Comments
Ski Industry Unions Across America Fight For Experienced Staff Retention and Training Incentives This past year the ski industry saw a continued rise in labor organization. Ski patrollers at Loveland, Colorado, voted to unionize, lift mechanics at Park City, Utah, recently approved their first contract, and ski patrollers at Eldora, Colorado, are waiting to schedule their own union election. This recent momentum in the labor movement has also led to lift mechanics unionizing […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | January 30, 2024 0 Comments
Ski Patrol at Eldora Mountain Resort, CO, Campaigning to Unionize Today, a supermajority of ski patrollers and medics at Eldora Mountain Resort, CO, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (‘NLRB’) to hold an election for union representation in affiliation with the United Professional Ski Patrols of America (‘UPSPA’). The Eldora Professional Ski Patrol Association (‘EPSPA’) is joining a growing movement of unionized patrollers working to adapt to […] Industry News SnowBrains | October 26, 2023 1 Comment
Crested Butte, CO, Lift Maintenance Crew Wins Union Election Crested Butte, CO — This morning, lift mechanics and electricians at Crested Butte Mountain Resort voted 7-3 to form the Crested Butte Lift Maintenance Professional Union (CWA 7781). This makes them the second lift maintenance crew in the country to unionize, following the unionization of Park City Lift Maintenance last October. The maintenance crew announced their intent to unionize and […] Industry News SnowBrains | July 5, 2023 0 Comments
Ex-Ski Patroller Reaches Settlement With Solitude Mountain Resort, UT, After Being Let Go Almost exactly a year ago during the summer of 2021, Solitude made a few big changes, including hiring a new president and chief operating officer (COO), Amber Broadaway. With the staffing change, ski patrollers became hopeful it would also cause a review and improvement of working conditions for patrollers and employees at the resort. Kai Myers had been a patroller […] Industry News Aunika Skogen | April 27, 2022 1 Comment
Vote To Unionize Keystone’s Ski Patrol Struck Down 35-34 As a part of a larger movement amongst ski patrol units to unionize patrollers at Keystone Resort, CO, voted on the issue this winter. 69 out of 88 eligible ballots were cast, and a tally issued on March 29th declared the union-side lost 35-34. Despite the disappointingly narrow margin, union-side patrollers at Keystone understand that unionizing is not favorable without a […] Industry News Tony Miller | April 2, 2021 4 Comments
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