SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Dec. 19, 2025—Communication between Telluride Resort and the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association (TPSPA) will resume following a union vote earlier this month to reject the resort’s proposed contract, according to reporting by the Telluride Times.

Contract negotiations between the resort and the patrol union have been ongoing since June, but stalled after patrollers voted down the resort’s “last, best and final offer” on Dec. 8. The union has been working without a contract since its previous agreement expired Aug. 31, 2025.

After the Dec. 8 vote, it was incumbent upon the resort to return to the bargaining table with a revised proposal according to collective bargaining protocols. At a Dec. 16 town council meeting, union leaders alleged that the resort failed to present a new offer and attempted to pressure patrollers to vote again on the rejected proposal. Union representatives said those actions could constitute unfair labor practices and stated their intent to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

A Telluride Resort (Telski) representative reached out to union president Graham Hoffman during the council meeting to resume negotiations, according to the Times. In the email, which was shared in part with the Times, the consultant leading negotiations for the resort wrote, “The company is open to discussing how we might move beyond this impasse. Please provide your available dates to meet. A virtual meeting would be most expeditious.”

Prior to the town council meeting, Hoffman told local Park City, Utah, outlet KPCW that the union was considering a holiday season strike and had already voted unanimously in November to authorize a strike. He said the union would set a walk out date in advance if it decided to proceed.

Bargaining has centered on the patrol wage structure, with the union seeking a roughly 30 percent hourly wage increase that would bump the starting patrol wage from $21/hr to $28/hr and the range for tenured patrollers from $30-$36/hr to $39-$48.60/hr, inclusive of $60/wk healthcare stipend and a gear allowance.

On a resort FAQ page about the negotiations, Telski outlined the offer the union rejected on Dec. 8. It included a 13 percent wage increase for the current season and guaranteed 5 percent cost of living increases for 2026-27 and 2027-28. The hourly pay scale ranged from $24.06-$39.84.

Telski and the patrol union agreed to a Dec. 20 meeting to continue negotiations.