Telluride Ski Patrol Votes Unanimously to Authorize Labor Strike

Ski patrol units are making waves all over Colorado as they negotiate and agree on union contracts.

While Breckenridge's ski patrol unit came to a tentative agreement with Vail Resorts on a new contract for their unionized workers just a few days ago, further south, another unit is still locked in negotiations with resort owners.

Telluride Professional Ski Patrol has been negotiating a new labor contract with Teleski, who owns Telluride Mountain.

Telluride Ski Patrol's previous contract ended on August 31, 2025, which means patrollers have been working without a contract since then. As negotiations hit a lull, the patrol unit unanimously voted to authorize a labor strike.

However, the ski area, which was originally scheduled to open for the winter season on November 28, 2025, delayed their opening date until December 6 due to continued warm weather and lack of precipitation. While not necessarily favorable in most regards, the delay might be a silver lining for patrollers, buying them more time to negotiate their contract without having to resort to a labor strike.

The patrol union's final scheduled meeting with Teleski is also scheduled for December 6. Union President, Graham Hoffman, told the Telluride Times that without significant progress on negotiations by that date, a labor stoppage becomes far more likely.

The patrol union posted to Instagram on November 18 to say they were "disappointed to see that Telluride Ski and Golf is publicly recruiting temporary workers (“scabs”) at a higher pay rate than is currently offered to our highly trained and skilled patrol."

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"Scabs" or strikebreakers, are temporary employees brought in in the event of a union strike and labor stoppage.

Vail Resorts was heavily criticized for bringing in scabs during the Park City ski patrol strike over the 2024/25 season and the mountain saw significant impacts to operations.

Like other patrol units who have hit roadblocks while renegotiating their union labor contracts, Telluride patrollers are vying for increased wages in order to keep up with a rapidly rising cost of living in San Miguel county.

The union is currently asking for roughly a 30% increase in wages, in contrast to Teleski's most recent offer of a 2.5% increase, according to the Telluride Times. “We’re just trying to get closer to a living wage in this community," Hoffman told the Times. "This is an incredibly dangerous mountain and it’s incredibly complicated to get injured guests off the mountain.”

The Union currently has one more scheduled negotiation session with Teleski on November 25 ahead of the final meeting on December 6. POWDER will continue to cover this story. Stay tuned.