Park City Ski Patrol Strike

[TheGreatAbyss]

Then one shouldn't go into a recreational field as a main source of income.

That might be true here in the East Coast where there are plenty of 20 somethings willing to live in low cost of living towns and don't need experience with Avy mitigation, or people willing to do it more for fun then the income. But in serious mountains like PCMR/Canyons, in HCOL places, labor has some muscle to flex

 

[Campgottagopee]

That might be true here in the East Coast where there are plenty of 20 somethings willing to live in low cost of living towns and don't need experience with Avy mitigation, or people willing to do it more for fun then the income. But in serious mountains like PCMR/Canyons, in HCOL places, labor has some muscle to flex

Valid point.

Hey, I'm not against them doing what they feel is right for them, I just don't feel sorry for them. I hope they win their battle. I'll always root for the underdog, especially against a corporation.

 

[Ripitz]

Funny comment on Reddit, Lol.

Vail: We're going to consolidate to gain power over the market

Ski patrol: Ok, good idea

Vail: Wait, not like that

 

[tirolski]

MTN stock down over 5% so far this morning.
Maybe the board of directors will buy back at the low before they announce a few more $/hr for the patrollers.

The house always wins at the ca$ino.

 

[MarzNC]

What's the housing market like in Park City? Is it as expensive as Aspen and Fail?

Yes. Same as all the destination resorts post-pandemic.

All the major resorts are building employee housing and/or buying up lodging that can be used to house employees at least on a seasonable basis. Taos and Big Sky are examples I know something about first-hand. Either because where I used to stay was bought by the resort or I've seen the new employee housing under construction in recent years. Even Vail Resorts was planning on building employee housing for Vail and Beaver Creek until the local town stymied the project.

Housing prices in SLC and Ogden have been rising for a while, since even before the pandemic. No different than the Denver metropolitan area once WFH became an option for some professions. There have been people retiring to those areas for a few decades. Meaning people with solid financial resources who moved there from somewhere along the east coast because they like living near big mountains both in summer and winter.

No idea where the data comes from for this website/service but here's the comparison between SLC and Park City. Fair to say that many Park City and Deer Valley employees commute from SLC or Heber City.

 

[Benny Profane]

Then one shouldn't go into a recreational field as a main source of income. I know because I made my living skiing for 4 years. That said, I wouldn't change any of it. To date, it was the best 4 years of my life. I lived off potatoes, ramen noodles, and beer. It was clear, early on, that if I wanted more than a truck that may or may not start, I needed to make a change. One can look around at those who've been there for years and years to see that.

Also, it doesn't take much research to see what kind of pay one will be getting into.

https://www.indeed.com/career/ski-patrol/salaries

I don't know about that. Something tells me the CEO and all the other top executives of Vail Inc are doing just peachy these days. Betcha they live in really nice houses. And they decided to get into a "recreational field".

 

[Benny Profane]

Vail Resorts Faces Backlash From Ski Patrol Unions Over "Patrol Support Team" - SnowBrains

Vail Resorts faces strong criticism from unionized ski patrol teams across its resorts. The controversy centers around a Patrol Support Team.

snowbrains.com

 

[Campgottagopee]

I don't know about that. Something tells me the CEO and all the other top executives of Vail Inc are doing just peachy these days. Betcha they live in really nice houses. And they decided to get into a "recreational field".

Yes, obviously

Thanks

 

[MarzNC]

Has there ever been an effort to unionize at Vail Mountain or Beaver Creek? Either ski patrol or lift maintenance.

Crested Butte is the other VR resort in Colorado with a union contract. The other Colorado resorts with patroller unions are Steamboat, Eldora, Loveland, Telluride, Purgatory, and Aspen/Snowmass. ABasin patrollers vote on unionization next week.

Keystone patrollers unionized in 2024. There was a vote again unionizing in 2021.

Breckenridge patrollers was unionized by 2021. The last contract with VR was signed in 2023.

April 2024

Keystone Resort ski patrollers successfully pass vote to unionize after failed effort in 2021

After a failed attempt to unionize back in 2021, ski patrollers at Keystone Resort held a unionization election on Tuesday and Friday this week. The effort passed with 90% voter support. With the official vote...

www.summitdaily.com

December 2023

‘The tide is shifting’: Breckenridge ski patrol union hopes its new contract inspires a shift in the industry beyond Colorado

Almost two years to the day since Breckenridge Ski Resort’s ski patrol union reached its first contract agreement in 2021 with its employer, Vail Resorts, the union has settled on a new contract in 2023....

www.summitdaily.com

 

[MarzNC]

The Aspen patrollers union was formed in 1986. The next contract negotiation happens in Spring 2025. In early December, the union hosted a community party that was also a fundraiser.

December 3, 2024

Music, food, drink: Aspen ski patrol union to host community engagement party

The Aspen ski patroller's union will provide dinner, drinks, and live music for their inaugural community outreach event, slated for 7 p.m., Friday at the T-Lazy-7 Ranch.

www.aspentimes.com

" . . .
“A lot of folks in our community don’t actually realize that we are a unionized patrol,” Union President Luke DeMuth said. “(The event) is a reminder and an outreach event to our community that we are here, we are an organized labor group.”
. . .

Founded in 1986 to improve working conditions for patrollers, the union currently strives to increase wages, secure more workforce housing, increase health benefits, and increase equipment funding as they approach their contract renegotiation this spring, DeMuth said.
. . .
The union is also working to improve health benefits, equipment, and housing.

In the current contract, patrollers get health benefits starting in their second year. Getting full benefits for rookies, “is one of the options on the table now,” DeMuth said.

SkiCo currently provides a $1,000 to $1,400 stipend for patrollers to buy equipment, which patrollers often exceed in their equipment purchases as they wear through multiple pairs of skis or boots every season, DeMuth said. They hope to increase the equipment budget in the upcoming negotiations.

While patrollers are allotted 10 beds in SkiCo workforce housing, they employ between 180 and 190 patrollers between the four mountains, DeMuth said.

They hope to work with SkiCo to provide more beds for full-time, year-round patrollers, DeMuth said.

The average cost to rent an unsubsidized one-bedroom apartment in Aspen is $8,000 per month, according to Zillow, a real estate company.

“As cost of living goes up and all these resort communities, it gets harder and harder to make a living out of (patrolling),” Biehl said. “I can’t imagine paying first, last, and security deposit on an apartment in this rental market.”

The union strives to ensure that those who want to can make a living out of patrolling, Biehl added.

“Just ensuring that we’re making a livable wage and that this is something that people are hopefully able to make a career out of,” Biehl said. “Like a lot of us have done and intend to do for the rest of our days.”"