SAM Magazine—Telluride, Colo., Jan. 9, 2026—The Telluride Professional Ski Patrol union, on strike since Dec. 27, accepted the latest offer from the resort on Thursday, ending the 13-day walkout that had vastly reduced visits and led resort owner Chuck Horning to shutter operations. The resort resumed very limited operations on three runs on Jan. 5; with the settlement in hand, the resort plans to reopen more terrain on Saturday, Jan. 10.

Terms of the deal had not been disclosed at the time of this writing late Thursday.

“We are delighted that the two parties came to an agreement today,” said Telluride Ski and Golf spokesman Steve Swenson in a statement. "It has been a lot of work, but we are confident that this last offer represented a fair compromise."

The patrol had voted to strike after months of unsuccessful negotiations with Horning, in which the patrol was seeking a wage increase as part of a new three-year contract. Initially, the union sought a pay increase of up to $40/hr. for the most senior patrols, with annual cost-of-living increases and allowances for health insurance and work gear. The proposal also aimed to create a wage scale that would encourage younger patrollers to continue working at the resort, rather than leave for opportunities elsewhere.

According to the Colorado Sun, the union had reduced the overall value of its request by 50 percent during the course of negotiations.

The settlement brought a great sense of relief to Telluride businesses and residents, who have suffered from the loss of business during the strike. According to the Mountain Village town council, occupancy around Telluride was down 42 percent in December, and 59 percent in the first week of January.

With the strike dragging on, businesses were beginning to lay off workers. Many residents, while supporting the patrollers' effort to gain a wage increase, began to encourage the patrollers to settle for the sake of the community.

Telluride Ski and Golf had been paying workers through the resort's closure, but that was set to end on Jan. 11—a move that put additional pressure on the union to settle.

The end of the strike, though, does not eliminate the affordability issues that led patrollers to walk out in the first place. Further, the strike and subsequent drop in business highlighted the need for the community and the resort to work together for mutual benefit. That could prove difficult, as relations between Horning and the community have been strained for much of his 20 years of ownership.