PARK CITY, Utah — Ski patrollers at the biggest U.S. ski resort have reached a deal with Vail Resorts-owned Park City Mountain Resort in Utah to end a strike that put a wrench in operations during the busy holiday season and into the new year.
A joint statement released by the executive board of the ski patrollers’ union said a vote was scheduled for Wednesday on an agreement “that 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,” it said.
The deal would run through April 2027. No other details about it were released.
About 200 ski patrollers went on strike on Dec. 27 over wages they said were too low for high living costs.
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, left many runs closed and caused long lines for ski lifts.
Yet some skiers were sympathetic. “Pay your employees!” they chanted from lift lines in videos posted on social media.
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 a livable wage in pricey Park City, which is also home to Deer Valley Resort.
They also sought higher pay for the longest-serving ski patrollers. The current scale tops out after five years on the job.
Broomfield-based Vail Resorts, which has 42 properties on three continents and calls itself the world’s largest mountain resort operator, owns five mountains in Colorado: Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte.