A ski patroller strike at a popular Utah resort is expected to end Wednesday. In a short statement from the Vail Resort-owned Park City Mountain and the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association, representatives for both the resort and the labor union said they’d reached an agreement. Though the details weren’t immediately available Wednesday morning, the deal should last through April 2027.
“The Union’s bargaining committee is unanimously endorsing ratification by its unit with a vote scheduled to take place on January 8,” according to the statement. “The tentative agreement addresses both parties’ interests and will end the current strike. Everyone looks forward to restoring normal resort operations and moving forward together as one team. Until contract ratification, neither party will be accepting media requests.”
Ending the ‘Uncertainty’: Park City Mountain Moves Forward
The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association went on strike in late December with 204 mountain safety personnel and ski patrollers not signing in for work. To bridge the safety gap and keep the doors open at Park City Mountain, Vail Resorts had brought in patrollers from other mountain resorts.
Park City’s ski patrollers have been negotiating with Vail Resorts since April 2024, when their previous contract expired. After 10 months, the patrollers said negotiations had stalled. They went on strike to protest inadequate compensation and what they claimed were “bad faith” negotiations from the company, which owns 42 ski resorts.
It’s unclear if Vail Resorts decided to meet workers’ demands. Patrolers asked for increased wages from $21 to $23 per hour, an annual cost of living adjustment, wage parity, and incentivized certification. The strike had become so problematic for Park City, a popular ski town, that the mayor and city council even weighed in on the issue. In a statement, they pleaded with Vail Resorts to make a deal.
“After yet another weekend of confusion and disruption due to the unresolved labor dispute at Park City Mountain, the City Council and I urgently call on Vail Resorts to take immediate action to conclude negotiations and end the uncertainty,” the statement said.
Details of the deal will likely be released late Wednesday or later this week, so stay tuned for updates.
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