Park City Ski Patrol Strike May Be Over

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Jan 8, 2025 11:34 AM ET

Yesterday evening, the word went out: after nearly two weeks of tensions, national media attention, and stymied resort operations, the ski patrollers and Park City Mountain had reached a tentative agreement, potentially ending the strike that began last month.

The two parties shared a joint statement briefly describing the agreement.

“The Union’s bargaining committee is unanimously endorsing ratification by its unit with a vote scheduled to take place on January 8,” it reads. “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.”

On December 27th, 2024, the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) announced that they would go on strike in pursuit of better wages and improved benefits. PCPSPA wanted the starting wage for patrollers at Park City to be raised from $21 to $23 an hour, as well as added benefits like parental leave, holiday pay, and healthcare stipends.

The work contract deadlock between the patrollers and Park City began months earlier, in March 2024. Between then and the strike, both parties had reached an agreement on 24 of the 27 contract articles, but the last three were stubborn.

As the strike got underway, tensions brewed. Park City struggled to open terrain and maintain smooth resort operations without its full ski patrol staff. Visitors became angry in some cases—one video shared online appeared to show crowds of skiers waiting in line for the King Con lift at Park City chanting “Pay your employees."

PCPSPA alleged that Park City had brought in strikebreaking patrollers from other mountains to fill the gaps or, in union nomenclature, “scabs.”

In a letter shared to social media on December 30th, Park City Mountain COO Deirdra Walsh openly acknowledged that “there have been operational impacts from the union’s action.” Later, penning a guest editorial for The Park Record, Walsh apologized for the less-than-ideal holiday skiing experience at Park City and wrote that she knew that this “period was frustrating for our skiers and riders.”

The joint statement announcing the tentative agreement between the patrollers and Park City Mountain doesn’t provide specifics, and it isn’t yet clear to what extent the PCPSPA’s demands were met.

This is a developing story.

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

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