Park City Ski Patrol invites community to practice picket this weekend following stalled wage negotiations

Park City Ski Patrol demonstrates during contract negotiations with Park City Mountain Resort on Nov. 23, 2024. Photo: TownLift // Rebecca Brenner

PCPSPA will hold a practice picket on Saturday, Dec. 7, at two Park City locations: the intersection of Canyons Village Road and SR 224 and the intersection of Park Avenue and Deer Valley Drive.

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA) has expressed frustration over a lack of progress in ongoing contract negotiations with Vail Resorts, as the two sides met for the 21st time since talks began in May.

The latest counteroffer from Vail Resorts, presented during a meeting Wednesday night, included no improvement to benefits and less than a 0.5% wage increase across the unit. According to PCPSPA, most ski patrollers would see no change in their wages, while others would receive only minimal increases.

The union’s proposal calls for decompressing pay scales for tenured patrollers, increasing the starting hourly wage from $21 to $23, enhancing benefits and educational opportunities, and maintaining wage parity with non-unionized Vail Resorts employees. The PCPSPA argues that these changes reflect both the value of ski patrollers’ contributions and the high cost of living in the Park City area.

“We are bargaining for a contract that allows our members to return year after year and improve the services this patrol provides to our guests,” said Seth Dromgoole, a 17-year veteran patroller at Park City Mountain and the union’s lead negotiator. “This is good for both our coworkers and the company. Our wage and benefit proposal is rooted in economic data and market comparisons of other ski patrols. Vail’s refusal to come to the table and make meaningful work towards an agreement is taking a toll on our membership.”

The PCPSPA negotiators are ski patrollers elected by union members who volunteer their time to advocate for a fair contract. Since preseason training began in early October, ski patrollers and mountain safety employees have been working without a contract.

“We want to secure a contract that reflects the value that patrollers and mountain safety bring to this mountain,” said Kate Lips, PCPSPA president and a seventh-year patroller at Park City Mountain. “Every unreasonable counteroffer makes it increasingly difficult to continue working without a contract and draws out a process we wanted to have completed before we started working this season.”

Saturday Practice Picket

To amplify their call for support, PCPSPA will hold a practice picket on Saturday, Dec. 7, at two Park City locations: the intersection of Canyons Village Road and SR 224 and the intersection of Park Avenue and Deer Valley Drive. The demonstration will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the union is inviting community members and media outlets to attend.

For those unable to join the picket, PCPSPA encourages supporters to sign an online petition advocating for a fair contract.

The Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association operates as part of CWA Local 7781, a union representing ski patrollers at various U.S. resorts. Local 7781, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, works to address workplace conditions and safety standards for ski patrollers and mountain operations staff, whose roles involve managing challenging alpine environments and providing emergency response services.

Representatives from Park City Mountain and Vail Resorts have not yet responded to request for comment.