The iconic ski resort is set to close at the height of the holiday season

Skiers planning to hit the slopes at one of America’s most iconic resorts this weekend can expect their plans to be scrapped. The Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association voted to go on strike Saturday in pursuit of better pay.

Workers have been negotiating over ownership of Telluride since June, but the parties have failed to reach an agreement.

In a statement, the patrol union said management is “unwilling to fix the broken wage structure.”

Meanwhile, owner Chuck Horning told ABC News that the work stoppage could have a “devastating effect” on the high-end community located in the southwest corner of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.

Telluride is scheduled to close Saturday.

What is each side’s argument?

As with most labor disputes, the difference comes down to money. The ski patrol union wants to increase starting pay from $21 to $28 an hour, and raise wages for patrollers with more than 30 years of experience from $30 to $36 an hour from $39 to $48.60 an hour.

Union representatives are asking for wages competitive with other resorts in the area, and blame Horning for not eliminating his position.

“He’s a bully. That’s what he does, runs off with his toys,” said a union spokesman. “All he has to do is give us a fair deal, and it will all be over.”

The cost of living in Telluride, like other luxury ski towns out West, is high. That’s 75 percent higher than other U.S. regions, according to the Economic Research Institute.

In recent years, there have been revelations of how ski patrollers and other seasonal workers are often forced to spend hours away from their jobs, because they cannot live in the fields. East Coast summer resort destinations, such as the Hamptons and Nantucket, are experiencing similar crises.

Despite that reality, Horning blames ski patrollers for taking dramatic steps to go on strike during Christmas week. “We are deeply disappointed that Ski Patrol chose to take this action at such a critical time for our guests, employees and the greater community,” he said.

Patrons are already voicing their frustration. “Telluride
You can’t close with 2 days notice,” someone posted on X. “With thousands of dollars of investment already on the way. Totally unacceptable!”

Ski patrollers are responsible for an array of responsibilities, including assisting injured skiers and containing avalanches with explosives.

Stuart Winchester, who writes the popular Skiing Substack, describes the job as follows:

“If I were asked to draft a job description looking for big-mountain patrol candidates, I’d probably come up with something like: Looking for ski patrollers for big-time mountains. The ideal candidate has the agility of a mountain goat, the grip of a meteorologist’s weather and snowpack, the captivation of an ER doctor, the ability of a defender. And the dexterity with explosives in the hands of an ’80s action-hero. Also an expert skier. Should be.”

Is there an example?

Last winter, members of the ski patrol union in Park City, Utah, went on strike for 13 days. Their work stopped when resort management agreed to raise wages by $2 an hour.

Even as the resort remained open, customers paying thousands of dollars were frustrated by long wait times and inconvenience.

Like this weekend’s expected strike in Telluride, the announcement wasn’t made until many people were already on the resort grounds. “We thought it would be a fun Christmas present to go on a once-in-a-lifetime ski trip like this,” one customer, who spent $20,000 for his family, told NBC News. “The really disappointing part was the lack of transparency.”

Unionized ski patrols have nearly doubled in number over the past four years, with workers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, taking the latest steps to organize.

This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on December 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add Men’s Journal as a preferred resource by clicking here.