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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201cski patrol\u2019s unfortunate decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ski patrol began handing out food Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday 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,\u201d said Matt Racicot, a member of the Telluride Ski Patrol who lives in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe 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\u2019re hoping to hand out food to over 200 people today,\u201d Racicot said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey know the kinds of things that communities need in a time like this. They generously donated over $1,000 worth of groceries,\u201d Racicot said. \u201cWe think it\u2019s 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\u2019d like to extend any hand that we can for those people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David Miller, a seasonal worker for Telski from Maryland, came to the food bank to pick up free food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m really glad that they\u2019re out here to be a resource for us,\u201d Miller said. \u201cSki patrol is doing everything they can to help the situation because a lot of people are out of work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Miller said he found out about the food bank through an email from Telski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re really good at like letting their workers know what\u2019s available to them, so that\u2019s really good,\u201d Miller said. \u201cYou can tell that the mountain still cares about all its workers and is doing everything they can to like provide for them right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust 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, \u2018Hey this woman just stopped by and bought you guys thirty sandwiches,\u2019\u201d Sokolowki said. \u201cThat\u2019s like three hundred dollars, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunt Worth, who has worked for ski patrol for 41 years, said the strike is for the future of younger patrollers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne 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\u2019s not possible,\u201d Worth said. \u201cWe have lots of guys come in, and then after two or three years of training, they leave because they can\u2019t afford to be here anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dakota Schlag, a member of the ski patrol union who lives in Placerville, agreed with Worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven though we\u2019re in our fifth, sixth years here, there\u2019s still so much institutional knowledge that we are losing year after year because there are so many better-paying jobs,\u201d Schlag said. \u201cA lot of folks are saying, \u2018Well, they should just be happy to work,\u2019 and that it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Worth and Schlag said the strike is a symptom of a financial dynamic in Telluride that has persisted for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople realize that the situation in Telluride is not sustainable for the service workers,\u201d Worth said. \u201cThis is a long-term problem, and we\u2019ve been dealing with this for thirty years. And even though town has built a lot of employee housing and subsidized housing, it\u2019s still way, way short of what\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the community moves through the uncertainty, Schlag encouraged people to engage in conversation with ski patrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would say to folks on the other side of the aisle, we\u2019re out here every day, we\u2019re going to be, and if you have questions, just please come up and talk to us and have a face to face, we\u2019re more than happy to be transparent,\u201d Schlag said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As drivers honked in support of ski patrol, Worth shared his appreciation for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe realize how hard this is for everybody,\u201d Worth said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re just hoping that this can create a change for everybody in town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n