“Park City Mountain and the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) are pleased to announce that they have reached a new tentative agreement 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. 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.” 

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Note: Park City Mountain and and the patrol union are in mediation today, January 7.

“We are meeting with the union nearly every day and working hard to reach an agreement, with both parties negotiating in good faith. We remain committed to safely operating Park City Mountain for our guests and employees, and this week lift lines have been under 10 minutes on average. Since the strike began, we have been able to open more than 50 additional trails and have nearly 2,300 acres of skiable terrain available for our guests thanks to our incredibly hard-working and dedicated team.”

Other Details from Park City Mountain: 

‍At Park City Mountain, patrol wages have increased more than 50 percent over the past four seasons, far outpacing inflation, to $25/hour on average.

The day the patrol union went on strike, their wage demands averaged $7/hour more per patroller, not $2/hour. That is wages only and does not include the value of other benefits and compensation they asked for in addition to their wage demand.

Note: Park City Mountain and and the patrol union are in mediation today, January 6, and Tuesday, January 7. As of today, Park City Mountain has opened 51 additional trails since since the strike began, with 2,277 total skiable acres available to guests.

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As published by The Park Record on January 6, 2025.

By Deirdra Walsh, Chief Operating Officer of Park City Mountain

Skiing and snowboarding are such an important part of our community. At Park City Mountain, we are deeply committed to showing up every day, working hard to bring our mountain to life for our guests and the community. And when we fall short, no matter the cause, we do not take it lightly.    

I know the experience at the mountain over the peak holiday period was frustrating for our skiers and riders. On behalf of the resort, I want to apologize to everyone that we haven't been able to open the terrain we had hoped for by now, and that the line wait times were longer than usual during the peak holiday, because of the ski patrol union strike. This was not the holiday skiing and riding experience anyone wanted, and we know that.  

But what we are doing is opening the terrain we can safely open with the people we have each day during the strike. We strive for transparency on operations. And the truth is that during this unprecedented time, each day is dynamic, and we are doing the best we can to keep guests informed. What I also know is that the commitment from our working patrol team right now is nothing short of remarkable. It is heartbreaking to see not just them, but all our employees, putting up with relentless harassment online and in person that is absolutely shameful. They don’t deserve it, and it needs to stop.  

Nobody wins in a strike.  

Over the months of negotiations with the patrol, we did make progress. We had agreed to 24 of the 27 contract items the union opened. Conversations were not always easy, but they were respectful. When we both agreed we were not making progress on the remaining articles, we both agreed to mediation. And we were committed to the process that goes with it. We had three mediation sessions scheduled for December 26 and 27, and January 2, based on the assigned mediator’s availability. The union made the choice to walk out after just the first session because they knew that is when it would impact the experience most. We never walked away. By choosing to strike during the peak holiday, the union hurt their fellow employees, skiers and snowboarders, and their neighbors.  

People have asked, “Can’t you just pay patrol $2/hour more?” It’s never been about 2 dollars. There’s a lot of misinformation surrounding these negotiations. First, please know; we care deeply about the work of our ski patrol; we have invested a lot in them and will continue to. Second, they are asking for much more than $2/ hour. In fact, on the day they went on strike, their demands equaled $7/hour more. Finally, you should know that we have come to the table with compelling offers.

Still, we remain committed to reaching an agreement that demonstrates our respect for them. Both negotiation teams met with the mediators four days last week, and additional mediation is scheduled for this week. That is progress towards an agreement. And when this ends, we will move forward together because that is who we are as a team.  

In the meantime, I have one ask: please be kind to the people who are working so hard to keep the mountain open. The harassment that our employees have been subjected to over the past two weeks is not in the spirit of our community’s values.

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Park City Mountain is open and operating safely despite the patrol union strike. The patrol union strike began on December 27, 2024, when the union walked out of mediation after just one session, and despite significant progress resolving 24 of the 27 contract items.

The resort remains committed to the mediation process with the patrol union, and in its last contract proposal, offered additional wage increases on top of the more than 50 percent wage increases Park City Mountain patrollers have received over the past four seasons.

Investing in our patrol

“We are proud of the significant investments we have made into all of our employees, including patrol, which have far outpaced inflation,” said Bill Rock, President of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division.

“Our wages and benefits are strong, as demonstrated by the high return rate among patrol teams across our company and by the number of applicants we get for any patrol opening. Still, we remain committed to reaching an agreement that demonstrates the great respect we have for our patrollers.”

At Park City Mountain, patrol wages have increased more than 50 percent over the past four seasons, far outpacing inflation, to $25/hour on average. The current average entry-level patrol wage is already at $22.40/hour, not $21/hour, given our skill-based pay incentives. Across Vail Resorts’ 37 North American mountain resorts, the company had just 300 open patrol roles for the 2024/25 season, yet 3,000 applicants.

OPERATING WITH SAFETY

With safety as its top priority, Park City Mountain has remained open for its guests, employees, and the community, despite the union’s actions during the holiday, thanks in part to a strong team of highly experienced patrollers from Park City Mountain and other mountain resorts.

“While we had sincerely hoped the union would not take this drastic and unnecessary action during the holidays, we have plans in place to continue to safely operate Park City Mountain for our guests, employees, and the community,” continued Rock.

“We deeply regret that this is having any level of impact on the guest experience and are grateful to our thousands of employees who are working hard every day to enable the experience at Park City Mountain and open the terrain that we can safely open.”

Since the strike began, the resort has safely opened nearly 50 additional trails and has nearly 2,250 acres of terrain available to guests.  

COMMITMENT TO REACHING AN AGREEMENT

Park City Mountain’s management team and the patrol union negotiated with a federal mediator on Monday (12/30), Tuesday (12/31), Thursday (1/2) and Friday (1/3) – and has plans to mediate again on Monday and Tuesday, January 6 and 7.