KEYSTONE, Colo. —The Keystone Ski Patrol Union officially approved a contract Saturday night after reaching a tentative agreement with the resort last week.
The union has been pushing for higher wages for its members since organizing in September of last year.
“Ski patrolling is a highly specialized job that’s often misunderstood. At Keystone, we’re not just first responders; we’re a full-fledged EMS service responsible for medical calls, avalanche mitigation, technical rescues, and outdoor emergency care,” the union wrote in a December 2024 Instagram post.
The starting wage for ski patrol employees is $21.50 per hour, according to the Instagram post.
The new contract increases wages, and union officials said in a statement to CPR last week that it resulted “in wages being increased across the industry in union and non union shops alike.”
Keystone General Manager Shannon Buhler provided the following statement for Denver7 on Monday about the agreement:
“In my first season back at Keystone Resort and stepping into my new role as GM, a huge priority of mine has been focusing on operating as a unified team across the resort. Teamwork is the root and foundation of everything we do here and is key to providing the best experience possible for our employees, our community, and our skiers and riders. With that in mind, I am glad that we have a new agreement in place with our ski patrol union. I have a tremendous amount of respect for our patrollers at Keystone and I appreciate the conversations we have had throughout this process that brought us to this point: a contract with base wages that are consistent with our other resorts and skills-based pay that reflects the terrain and avalanche complexity of Keystone Resort.”
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