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Eldora Ski Patrol Union Celebrates Tentative Contract Agreement

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 3:37 PM ET

At the beginning of the 2024/25 winter, Eldora Mountain's ski patrol unit officially unionized and joined the local 7781. Since then, the unit has been hard at work to negotiate the terms of their first union contract, with Eldora's current ownership company, POWDR Corp.

After 13 months of negotiation with the company, Eldora's patrol union announced on October 9, 2025, that they'd reached a tentative agreement. The contract built by the two parties addresses high costs of living in Boulder County, Colorado, high patroller turnover rates, and provides more tools to help patrollers keep the mountain safe.

Union members will vote to ratify the contract, which will last three years, in the near future. Eldora Ski Patrol Union also thanked Boulder County and Front Range skiers for continuing to support them and allowing them to stand behind their beliefs during the negotiation process.

Eldora's patrol unit is another in a significant list of ski patrol units to unionize and/or renegotiate union contract terms that address things like cost of living, benefits, wage compression, and patroller education over the last two seasons.

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Earlier this summer, Eldora made headlines as the town of Nederland, Colorado signed an intent to purchase letter for the ski area. POWDR Corp placed the resort for sale last fall, along with Killington Mountain, which was purchased by a group of local shareholders, and Mt. Bachelor, which POWDR later decided to retain indefinite ownership of.

In the event that the sale of Eldora went through, POWDR would likely enter a transition services agreement, which would support Eldora's mountain operations for two years following the purchase. All current Eldora employees, including their ski patrollers, would becoming employees of the town of Nederland and retain benefits and pay.

As of October 2025, neither Eldora nor the town of Nederland had issued any additional updates regarding the sale. The mountain is currently scheduled to open November 14, 2025 for the 2025/26 ski season.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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