The Telluride Ski Resort has reopened with very limited terrain after being closed for more than a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ski company closed the resort Dec. 27 after the Telluride Ski Patrol Union voted to go on strike, according to Telski officials. Ski patrol and Telski have been in contract negotiations since June 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the mountain is technically reopened, few runs are available. On a snowy Monday morning, Lift 1 was spinning, with only the Meadows Carpet and Vista Carpet open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just off the slopes, about 30 ski patrollers were on the picket line for another day of striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is day 10, sadly,” noted Jessica Blount, a 20-year ski patroller at Telluride Ski Resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel really really torn about it. I didn\u2019t think it would go this far. I didn\u2019t think it would drag out this long. It was never what we wanted, but our jobs are just as important as anyone else\u2019s. We\u2019ve heard the word \u2018entitled\u2019 thrown around a bunch, which makes me feel really bad, because we don\u2019t think we\u2019re any more important than anyone else, but we are just as important. We have an important job it turns out. The Ski Resort can\u2019t run without us. We\u2019re not asking for anything unreasonable,\u201d Blount said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday, Telluride Ski Resort sent a message to the community saying it has had continued conversations with ski patrol to bridge the gap between the two sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ski company offered a new proposal that would increase the base rate for station leads, add a \u201ccomplexity pay bonus\u201d of $1.50 for all hours worked \u2014 paid out midseason and at the end of the season \u2014 provide a three-year contract, and include cost-of-living pay increases in years two and three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Katherine Devlin, vice president of the Telluride Ski Patrol Union and a ski patroller at the resort for six years, said the offer does not address the union\u2019s needs, specifically citing the bonus structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe really need the base structure to be addressed, rather than a bonus structure. When you\u2019re applying for a mortgage, you can\u2019t tell your loaner \u2018Hey I\u2019m going to be getting a bonus at the end of this year\u2019. So, it\u2019s another Band-Aid on the problem, it\u2019s not really fixing it,\u201d Devlin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said the union countered with another offer to Telski on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have lowered the price of the proposal, again, so that delta is getting smaller and smaller \u2013 the difference between our proposal and theirs. So, we\u2019re getting closer and closer. It\u2019s good news,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emil Sante, a ski patroller at Telski for 30 years, said patrol is ready to return to work as soon as a deal is reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we got a deal today, we\u2019d be in the locker room first thing in the morning and coming up and doing our job,\u201d Sante said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the meantime, Sante encouraged visitors to continue skiing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe wish people a fun day on the ski slopes. We\u2019ve had a lot of people come to us and apologize for skiing today. We say \u2018no, no no no. We want you to ski. We want you to have fun,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the limited terrain is not working for everyone. Filipe Fernandez, who is visiting with a group of about 20 people from Guatemala, said the group plans to cancel the remainder of its trip if more terrain does not open by Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd obviously because of our bad experience, we\u2019ll never come back here again. It\u2019s a lose-lose situation, because everyone is losing \u2013 the visitors, the restaurants, the hotels. Everyone is losing and the mountain is empty,\u201d Fernandez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Telluride Ski Resort and the Telluride Ski Patrol Union met Saturday and Sunday for contract negotiations and are planning to meet again Monday evening. The resort said it is working to open as much terrain as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Telluride School District is making contingency plans for its Ski PE program. On Friday, Superintendent John Pandolfo sent a letter to families notifying them that all winter physical education classes, including Ski PE, would be canceled for the week. The district plans to assess the situation on a week-by-week basis for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost optimistically things will be resolved and\/or more of the mountain will be opened and we can make a well-informed decision that we feel is in the best interest of our students and our families to send students up on the mountain. But that\u2019s going to depend on a lot of different things \u2013 including mother nature,\u201d Pandolfo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The school district does not charge specifically for the Winter PE program. Pandolfo said any reimbursement would need to come from the ski company or another organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe know all of this is really hard on families. After I sent my message on Friday, I got some immediate responses from families that said \u2018we are struggling enough that we probably need a full rebate if we can get it\u2019. Our hearts go out to everyone who is impacted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pandolfo said he remains hopeful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a long way to go. It\u2019s Jan. 5. I\u2019m still banking 10 feet of snow before we get to April, and everything else resolving. We just have to be hopeful and play it by ear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some youth ski programs, including the Comets, plan to move forward with skiing on Lift 1 for the time being.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Telluride Ski Resort has reopened with limited terrain after a week-long closure due to a ski patrol strike. Negotiations between Telski and the patrol union continue, while the community adapts to the reduced runs.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":8818,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-category":[514],"news-tag":[1171,1172,477,1150],"class_list":["post-8817","news","type-news","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-category-featured-stories","news-tag-contract-negotiations","news-tag-labor-strike","news-tag-telluride","news-tag-telluride-ski-patrol-strike"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n