EGN NEWS DESK
More than two ft of contemporary snow fell on Park City, Utah, this previous week, completely timed for the throngs of vacation skiers gathering at Park City Mountain, the most important ski resort within the United States. But as a substitute of experiencing a powder excessive, skiers and snowboarders encountered lengthy elevate traces, restricted terrain and widespread frustration introduced on by a strike by ski patrollers.
“Five minutes of bliss for 50 minutes of ready in line,” mentioned one Park City skier on Instagram.
The Park City Professional Ski Patrollers Association, representing 204 ski patrollers and mountain security personnel, went on strike on Dec. 27 towards Vail Resorts, which owns Park City Mountain. The ski patrollers are demanding a $2 enhance of their hourly base wage, from $21 to $23. The union offered its proposal in September with the purpose of coming to an settlement earlier than the ski season, however Vail didn’t agree, main the patrollers to strike in the course of the busy vacation interval.
Vail Resorts has mentioned that it elevated patrollers’ wages by greater than 50 % over the previous 4 seasons.
“We are happy with the numerous investments we’ve got made into all of our workers, together with patrol, which have far outpaced inflation,” mentioned Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts Mountain Division, in an announcement on Friday.
Without sufficient patrollers to open trails, reply to accidents and do avalanche mitigation, round one fourth of Park City’s trails are at present open. Normally greater than 100 patrollers cowl Park City’s 7,300 skiable acres, however the union mentioned that simply 30 to 35 patrollers are on the mountain, lots of them supervisors or patrollers introduced in from different Vail ski areas.
“We deeply remorse that that is having any stage of influence on the visitor expertise and are grateful to our hundreds of workers who’re working arduous each day to allow the expertise at Park City Mountain and open the terrain that we are able to safely open,” Mr. Rock mentioned within the assertion.
Vail Resorts and the Park City patrol union are negotiating nearly every day with a federal mediator. Both sides have hinted that they’re making progress, however the union mentioned that Vail “remains to be removed from addressing most of our members’ considerations.”
Vail Resorts purchased Park City in 2014 and mixed it with a neighboring ski resort known as Canyons the next 12 months. The Canyons ski patrol unionized in 2001, and when the 2 ski patrols merged, Park City patrollers voted to affix the union, which is now a part of the Communications Workers of America.
Vail Resorts, valued at practically $10 billion, owns and operates 42 ski areas in North America, Australia and Europe. Last 12 months, Vail bought 2.4 million of its multimountain Epic Pass, which remodeled the ski business by reducing costs and increasing entry for skiers when it was launched in 2008. But the ensuing crowds led to buyer complaints at some resorts, and overwhelmed some rural communities reliant on the ski business.
The ski patrollers say they’ve been buoyed by an outpouring of on-line and in-person assist. An account on GoFundMe at present has greater than $200,000 in donations.
“We have had members of the group stopping by our picket line each day letting us know they assist us, dropping off meals, and donating to our strike fund,” mentioned Margaux Klingensmith, who has been a Park City patroller for six years and can be a enterprise manager for the union.
But that is chilly consolation for pissed off skiers who can’t attain the products. Instead of taking to social media to publish movies of flying snowflakes and large jumps, they’re sharing scenes of limitless elevate traces.
“The sum of money spent to not ski is abysmal,” mentioned one vacationer quoted within the native information outlet, TownLift.
Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and join our weekly Travel Dispatch e-newsletter to get skilled tips about touring smarter and inspiration to your subsequent trip. Dreaming up a future getaway or simply armchair touring? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024.
