A strike by ski patrollers at Colorado’s Telluride Ski Resort has shut down operations during the peak holiday season, spotlighting a systemic crisis where essential workers in some of America’s most expensive towns can no longer afford to live there.
The picturesque slopes of Telluride, Colorado, are silent. For veteran ski patroller Tony Daranyi, a 27-year veteran and certified EMT, the decision to strike wasn’t just about wages—it was about survival. Despite advanced training in avalanche forecasting and mitigation, Daranyi earns approximately $32 an hour, a wage he says is untenable in a town where the average rent is $8,000 a month and the average home value has skyrocketed to $1.5 million.
The walkout, which began on December 27, 2025, has effectively shuttered the resort during its most profitable period. This is not an isolated incident but the latest and most visible symptom of a nationwide affordability crisis hitting mountain communities with particular force.
The Breaking Point: Wages vs. Reality
Daranyi’s situation exemplifies the core conflict. New patrollers at Telluride start at just $21 an hour. When contrasted with the explosive growth in housing costs—home prices in rural vacation areas like Telluride surged 51% in the three years following the pandemic, according to Harvard University researchers—the math simply doesn’t work for workers.
“Wages haven’t kept up. We’re so far below what it takes somebody in this community to afford either rent or trying to buy even an affordable house,” Daranyi explained. “This is a reflection of what’s going on in all mountain communities, and it’s also a reflection of what’s going on nationwide with income inequality and wealth.”
A Growing Movement Across the West
The Telluride strike is part of a coordinated wave of labor action sweeping through ski country. The movement’s momentum is undeniable:
- Park City, Utah (2024): A 12-day strike ended with patrollers securing an average $4-an-hour raise.
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming (2025): Patrollers voted to unionize last fall.
- Colorado Resorts: Patrollers at Keystone, Eldora, and Arapahoe Basin have also unionized in recent years.
The United Mountain Workers union now boasts approximately 1,000 members, signaling a fundamental shift in the industry’s labor dynamics.
At Keystone Resort, patroller Amanda Kelly articulated the sentiment driving this movement. “We are like an ambulance on the ski hill that doesn’t charge anything for our services, and some of us are getting paid barely more than an entry-level position,” Kelly stated. “We risk our lives and our bodies, and we require a lot of skill to do what we do, and we’re struggling with even just feeding ourselves day to day.”
The High-Stakes Nature of the Work
Ski patrolling is far from a casual seasonal job. Patrollers are highly trained first responders responsible for guest safety, from administering medical aid on the mountain to performing high-angle rescues and conducting avalanche control with explosives. The job carries inherent risks, tragically highlighted last month when Mammoth Mountain patroller Cole Murphy was killed in an avalanche.
This specialized skillset makes patrollers difficult to replace, giving their unions significant leverage. Unlike other resort positions, a patroller strike has the immediate power to halt resort operations entirely, as seen in Telluride and Park City.
The Negotiation Stalemate and Wider Implications
As of January 6, 2026, negotiations between the Telluride Ski Patrol union and resort management remained at a stalemate. The resort had offered an average 13% wage increase for the current season followed by 5% cost-of-living adjustments for the next two seasons—an offer the union rejected nearly unanimously.
The union’s last proposal sought a median wage of $25.50 for new patrollers (up from $21.50) and $36 for advanced patrollers (up from ~$30). Resort owner Chuck Horning has argued that meeting these demands would force a hike in already steep ticket prices, which currently run around $245 for a single-day adult pass.
The outcome in Telluride is being watched closely across the industry. The successful strike in Park City had a demonstrable ripple effect. Patroller Corlan Williamson, who saw his wage rise from $13.25 to around $30 an hour after their strike, noted the change was transformative. “It’s been a pretty big change for people, and definitely a sigh of relief,” Williamson said. “We were getting to a point where we were losing our experience. We’ve been able to build up that experience and knowledge again and retain people.”
A Microcosm of a National Struggle
David Seligman of the workers’ advocacy group Towards Justice frames the issue in broader terms. “What we’re seeing in our mountain communities across Colorado is like what we’re seeing across the country on steroids,” he said.
The struggle of ski patrollers is a stark illustration of a larger economic dilemma: how to sustain a workforce in communities transformed by wealth. The influx of remote workers and second-home buyers post-pandemic has created a scenario where the very people essential to the function and appeal of these towns—the patrollers, the hospitality workers, the service staff—are being priced out of existence there.
The resolution in Telluride will set a precedent. A victory for the patrollers could empower workers in other high-cost resort towns, while a defeat may force a reckoning on how these communities can remain viable for the people who make them run.
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