Ski Patrol Union Movement Hits East Coast

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 1:55 PM ET

Ski patrollers from an east coast ski resort have begun the processes of unionizing.

On February 17, 2025, more than 70% of ski patrollers at Maine's Sunday River have have signed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to form a union.

Patrollers from Sunday River hope to join United Mountain Workers, the labor organization that represents more than a dozen unionized mountain ops teams in the US. They plan to conduct a union election later this winter as the first step in becoming a unionized patrol unit.

An Instagram post announcing the petition touched on the patrol unit's responsibility to provide medical care and guest services, as well as perform hazard mitigation and terrain management across the resort's 800 skiable acres of terrain.

By unionizing, Sunday River Ski Patrol hopes to create a sustainable working environment with fair compensation, safe working conditions, and professional development opportunities. "From White Cap to Jordan Bowl, we love our work in the mountains of Western Maine. With our union effort, we are asking Sunday River and Boyne Resorts to invest in us so that we can continue to perform our jobs at the highest level," said the post.

Sunday River is the first east coast resort ski patrol unit to be potentially represented by United Mountain Workers. Their petition to unionize comes on the heels of a larger movement within the ski patrol community to form unions.

The resort is located in Western Maine about an hour and a half from Portland. Sunday River is owned by Boyne Resorts, which also owns Big Sky, Brighton, Sugarloaf, The Summit at Snoqualmie, Loon, and a handful of other ski areas. As mentioned, the mountain has more than 800 skiable acres of terrain, 2,300 feet of vertical drop, and 19 lifts. It is amongst the largest and most popular ski resorts on the east coast.

"We respect our team members' right to participate in the union organization process. Our commitment to an open dialogue and fostering a workplace built on kindness, respect, and professionalism remains unchanged during this process. We are confident our team will continue to support one another because we all share the common goal of caring for our team, our guests, and our resort," said Brian Heon, Resort General Manager of Sunday River in an email to POWDER.

POWDER will continue to provide updates on Sunday River's patrol unionization as this story evolves.

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

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