SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Jan. 5, 2026—After nine days of the resort being closed entirely during a strike by its unionized ski patrollers, Telluride opened two lower mountain trails served by one aerial lift and two conveyors today. The free village gondola is also spinning. Telluride

Failed contract negotiations led to a Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association (TPSPA) union vote to strike during the busy Christmas and New Year holidays, beginning Dec. 27. Telluride Resort ownership responded by closing the resort the same day. Since then, Telluride has not allowed any access to in-bounds alpine terrain other than the learning terrain that opened today. 

A message on the homepage of the resort’s website threatens legal action to those who try to ski or ride anywhere else on the mountain: “All uphill and downhill access to the mountain on any other terrain is currently closed day and night. There is no public access, anyone trespassing on the mountain will be prosecuted.”

The union is seeking increased wages and other benefits to be included in a new contract. The previous contract expired Aug. 31 and contract talks have been ongoing since June with neither side seemingly close to an agreement.

Telluride’s most recent offer—an amendment to its “last, best and final offer” that the union rejected—on Saturday reportedly adds a total of $81,500 in wages for each year of the three-year contract. It includes increases tied to cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and a “complexity pay bonus equal to $1.50 for all hours worked, including overtime, paid out mid-season and end of season.” 

TPSPA has said the proposal is “relatively the same” as the previous one, except that the COLA adjustments were reduced in favor of the “complexity pay bonus,” which the union says could be withheld. “They did not bring more money to the table, they just moved it around,” said an Instagram post from the association. 

The ongoing labor dispute and resort shutdown have affected business locally, according to a report from CBS News. On Friday, Jan. 2, the Telluride Tourism Board said total occupancy rates over the next two weeks were pacing 19 percent behind that same time last year, and all of January was down 11 percent so far. December and holiday occupancy were down about 12 percent as of last Monday.