Ski patrollers miffed by wages they say are too low for high living costs have put a wrench in operations at the biggest U.S. ski resort with a rare strike that began over the busy holidays and carried on into the new year’s fresh powder.
The resulting thin staffing at Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Salt Lake City in the Wasatch Range, has left many runs closed and caused long lines for ski lifts.
Yet some skiers who paid good money for passes are sympathetic. “Pay your employees!” they chant from lift lines in videos posted on social media.
Unionization is rare but increasing at U.S. ski resorts, including the one in Park City that is owned by Vail Resorts, which with 42 properties on three continents calls itself the world’s largest mountain resort operator.
As talks stalled, 200 patrollers went on strike on Dec. 27, alleging unfair bargaining by the company.
Here’s the latest on the strike:
What are ski patrollers?
They maintain safety at ski resorts by monitoring terrain, responding to accidents, hauling hurt skiers downhill and reducing avalanche risk, sometimes by releasing avalanches with explosives when nobody’s in range.
It’s a seasonal job. After the snow melts away, so do they.
Many in the Rocky Mountain region work as fly-fishing, mountain biking and whitewater rafting guides in the warmer months. Often they’re young people starting in the workforce.
Others spend decades honing skills in a physically demanding job.
The specialized work requires training and dedication — and ought to be compensated without too much stress over living costs in pricey mountain towns such as Park City, the ski patroller union argues.
The strike comes as actions by labor unions soared over the past couple of years. Unions secured meaningful employer concessions in recent months following strikes by Boeing factory workers, dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports, video game performers, and hotel and casino workers on the Las Vegas Strip.
The 45,000 dockworkers’ ongoing threats to resume their strike over automation would shut down ports and could damage the economy as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
What do the patrollers want?
Pointing to steep inflation since 2022, the Park City Professional Ski Patrollers Association has been negotiating since March, seeking an increase from $21 to $23 an hour. The union says $27 is considered a livable wage in pricey Park City, which is also home to Deer Valley Resort.
They also seek higher pay for the longest-serving ski patrollers. The current scale tops out after five years on the job.