Park City Mountain ski patrol strike ends in Utah

Members of the Park City Mountain ski patrol in Utah were back at work Thursday after the resort agreed to lift their pay by $2 an hour, ending a 13-day strike that forced long wait times for ski lifts and frustrated a whole lot of shoppers.

The brand new contract, which is able to stay in effect through 2027, gives entry-level ski patrollers and mountain safety employees a starting salary of $23 an hour, in keeping with the Park City Skilled Ski Patrol Association, which represents 200 employees on the country’s largest ski resort.

Experienced members of the ski patrol will earn an extra $4 an hour on average, the union said.

“The tentative agreement addresses each parties’ interests and can end the present strike, the resort and the union said Thursday in a joint statement. “Everyone looks forward to restoring normal resort operations.”

Members of the ski patrol conduct mountain safety operations, corresponding to avalanche mitigation, and reply to medical emergencies.

The edges negotiated for eight months before the union began its strike on Dec. 27. In the course of the strike, the resort operated at a limited capability, upsetting a whole lot of guests who traveled long distances with their families.

Minnesota resident Peter Nystrom said he spent greater than $20,000 to send his family of eight to the resort only to learn in regards to the strike, three-hour ski lift lines and potentially unsafe mountain conditions.

“We thought it would be a fun form of Christmas gift to go do this sort of once-in-a lifetime ski trip,” Nystrom told NBC News. “The really frustrating part was just the shortage of transparency.

Park City said on its website that city officials were “pleased that the patrol union strike has ended and are looking forward to welcoming back our patrollers,” adding that more terrain would open quickly.