Noticias

Telluride Ski Patrol was at Oak Street Plaza this week offering free meals and groceries to support people impacted by the Telluride Ski Resort closure.

After months of failed contract negotiations between the Telluride Ski Patrol Union and the Telluride Ski Resort, known as Telski, ski patrol announced a decision to strike. Following that announcement, the Telluride Ski Resort closed Dec. 27, citing “ski patrol’s unfortunate decision.”

Ski patrol began handing out food Tuesday.

“Today we got a food bank going for the Telski employees and other members of the community who might be affected by the resort shutting down,” said Matt Racicot, a member of the Telluride Ski Patrol who lives in town.

“We have food available in the form of some to-go bags that feature a little dinner filled with chili items, and a breakfast-lunch bag, and then we have other groceries that people can come and get. We’re hoping to hand out food to over 200 people today,” Racicot said.

The food bank at Oak Street Plaza was inspired by Park City Ski Patrol, which contacted Telluride Ski Patrol in support. Park City Ski Patrol went on strike for higher wages last winter, resulting in increased wages for beginning and experienced patrollers.

“They know the kinds of things that communities need in a time like this. They generously donated over $1,000 worth of groceries,” Racicot said. “We think it’s important because we know there are a lot of people out there who had no say in this decision for the resort to close. And we’d like to extend any hand that we can for those people.”

David Miller, a seasonal worker for Telski from Maryland, came to the food bank to pick up free food.

“I’m really glad that they’re out here to be a resource for us,” Miller said. “Ski patrol is doing everything they can to help the situation because a lot of people are out of work.”

Miller said he found out about the food bank through an email from Telski.

“They’re really good at like letting their workers know what’s available to them, so that’s really good,” Miller said. “You can tell that the mountain still cares about all its workers and is doing everything they can to like provide for them right now.”

Wednesday marked the fifth day of the Telluride Ski Patrol strike. Tom Sokolowki, also known as Socko, has been a ski patroller for 53 years. He said he has been overwhelmed by the support from people passing by the picket line.

“Just the other day, we were picketing in Mountain Village Plaza and the guy that owns the Philly cheesesteak cart came up to us and said, ‘Hey this woman just stopped by and bought you guys thirty sandwiches,’” Sokolowki said. “That’s like three hundred dollars, you know.”

Hunt Worth, who has worked for ski patrol for 41 years, said the strike is for the future of younger patrollers.

“One of our big issues is that we need to make it possible for the young folks coming into ski patrol to make it a career, and right now, that’s not possible,” Worth said. “We have lots of guys come in, and then after two or three years of training, they leave because they can’t afford to be here anymore.”

Dakota Schlag, a member of the ski patrol union who lives in Placerville, agreed with Worth.

“Even though we’re in our fifth, sixth years here, there’s still so much institutional knowledge that we are losing year after year because there are so many better-paying jobs,” Schlag said. “A lot of folks are saying, ‘Well, they should just be happy to work,’ and that it’s fun. That is true on some days, and other days it is not true. We deal with people dying, we deal with very dangerous work conditions up there.”

Worth and Schlag said the strike is a symptom of a financial dynamic in Telluride that has persisted for decades.

“People realize that the situation in Telluride is not sustainable for the service workers,” Worth said. “This is a long-term problem, and we’ve been dealing with this for thirty years. And even though town has built a lot of employee housing and subsidized housing, it’s still way, way short of what’s needed.”

As the community moves through the uncertainty, Schlag encouraged people to engage in conversation with ski patrol.

“I would say to folks on the other side of the aisle, we’re out here every day, we’re going to be, and if you have questions, just please come up and talk to us and have a face to face, we’re more than happy to be transparent,” Schlag said.

As drivers honked in support of ski patrol, Worth shared his appreciation for the community.

“We realize how hard this is for everybody,” Worth said. “And we’re just hoping that this can create a change for everybody in town.”

In a statement, Telski said the resort is working on a plan to safely reopen Lifts 1 and 4 as quickly as possible. The company said a certain number of medical providers are required to operate the mountain and that it has formed a recruitment team to hire qualified and experienced personnel to temporarily fill gaps and allow the mountain to reopen.

KOTO News will continue covering the Telski closure and its impact on the community. Those affected who wish to share their stories can contact KOTO News by emailing [email protected] or calling 970-728-3206.