Skiing · National
Park City ski patrol ends strike with new contract; guest credits follow
The Utah resort and its patrol union concluded their holiday dispute on 8 January; Vail announced credits for affected visitors a week later.
Event date:
A contract for patrol and safety workers
Park City Mountain’s ski patrol dispute ended with a new contract covering more than 200 patrollers and mountain safety personnel. In its 9 January 2025 report, the Communications Workers of America confirmed that members of the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association had ratified the agreement with Vail Resorts. The union said the settlement increased hourly wages by an average of four dollars and included a guarantee of wage parity if pay rose for workers at other, non-unionized Vail resorts. The strike had begun on 27 December after almost ten months of bargaining. The outcome therefore changed both immediate pay and the relationship between the Park City unit’s wages and later increases elsewhere in the company. CWA described the settlement as a victory for its members.
Negotiators recommend, members decide
The route to ratification was set out in a joint announcement dated 7 January. Park City Mountain and the patrol association said their tentative contract would run through April 2027, and the union’s bargaining committee unanimously recommended that members approve it. A vote was scheduled for 8 January. The parties presented the agreement as meeting their respective interests and ending the walkout, with a shared goal of restoring normal resort operations. That sequence matters: the committee’s endorsement established a proposed settlement, while approval by the membership supplied the subsequent confirmation reported by CWA. The published joint statement did not set out a detailed pay schedule.
The company explains its position
Vail’s 8 January response emphasized the employer’s wider pay structure. Bill Rock, president of the company’s mountain division, said the agreement was consistent with wages for both unionized and non-unionized patrollers while taking account of Park City’s terrain and avalanche complexity. He said the company expected to welcome the patrollers back in the following days. Rock also apologized to guests affected by the strike and thanked the staff who kept the mountain operating. This was the company’s description of the settlement and the preceding disruption. Together with the union’s account of average increases and wage parity, it explains the different priorities each side highlighted after agreement.
A dated follow-up for affected guests
The operational dispute also produced a separate customer response. On 15 January, Vail announced credits for pass holders and lift-ticket customers who skied or snowboarded at Park City between 27 December and 8 January. Resort chief operating officer Deirdra Walsh acknowledged that an open mountain had still fallen short of the experience the company intended to provide. For pass holders, the announced credit was 50 percent per day visited, with season-pass calculations based on eight days and a minimum amount equal to 25 percent of the pass purchase price. Lift-ticket customers were offered half the price paid for each eligible day. The credits were directed toward 2025/26 pass products, with individualized information to follow in March. This later announcement addressed visitors’ disrupted holiday experience after the workforce had approved its contract.
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