Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Park City Mountain Resort faces image challenges due to a ski patrol strike.
- The strike has led to long lift lines, limited terrain and negative publicity.
PARK CITY — Park City Mountain Resort's longstanding image as a premier ski and snowboard destination in the United States is taking a hit as a contentious ski patrol strike drags into a second week.
Here's a smattering of recent headlines:
"Park City's wealthiest guests are furious after $20,000 ski trips became a disaster, and now investors are bailing," by Fortune.
"Park City skiers said their resort vacation became a mess after a ski patrol strike shut down much of the mountain," by Business Insider.
"Park City ski patrol strike latest PR problem for Vail Resorts," by Sportico.
Skiers and snowboarders have complained about long lift lines, crowded slopes and limited open terrain since about 200 members of the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association hung up their jackets and started walking a picket line on Dec. 27. Many have taken to social media to blast Park City Mountain and its parent company, Vail Resorts, a multibillion corporation that owns 41 ski areas in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
"VAIL SUCKS IN 2025!!! Avoid Park City at all cost!!! Lines consistently extending beyond the rope lines. Completely unsafe. Absolutely horrible resort management," Ed Stock posted last Friday on Facebook.
Vail has acknowledged the disruption.
"I know the experience at the mountain over the peak holiday period was frustrating for our skiers and riders. On behalf of the resort, I want to apologize to everyone that we haven't been able to open the terrain we had hoped for by now, and that the line wait times were longer than usual during the peak holiday, because of the ski patrol union strike. This was not the holiday skiing and riding experience anyone wanted, and we know that," Vail Resort chief operating officer Deirdra Walsh wrote in a letter published Monday in the Park City Record.
Walsh said the resort is opening the terrain it safely can with the people it has each day during the strike. It is striving for transparency on operations, and during this "unprecedented time," each day is dynamic, she said.
"What I also know is that the commitment from our working patrol team right now is nothing short of remarkable. It is heartbreaking to see not just them, but all our employees, putting up with relentless harassment online and in person that is absolutely shameful. They don't deserve it, and it needs to stop," Walsh wrote.
Vail has brought in ski patrollers from its other resorts to keep the the mountain open.
Not only are the negative headlines and social media posts giving one of the country's most prominent ski resorts and past and future Olympics host a black eye, it's taking a toll on Vail Resorts' bottom line. Shares in the company have dropped more than 5% in the last five trading days amid the ongoing labor dispute, CNBC reported Monday.
On top of the complaints, Park City Mountain is among the most expensive resorts in the country. A single-day lift ticket was $288 on Monday, though the price exceeded $300 over the holidays.
On the mountain
I spent Saturday afternoon traversing the Park City side of the mountain. The gondola to the Canyons side wasn't running, likely due to the high winds. Wait times at the chairlifts weren't long, but that could be attributed to the time of day, snowing and blowing weather conditions and the near end of the busy holiday week.
A generous weekend snowstorm allowed the opening of some additional terrain, but the lifts have yet to start spinning in my favorite spots in the upper areas on both mountains. I didn't find that particularly unusual given the lack of snow so far this year but couldn't help but think the strike has something to do with it. Without a full complement of ski patrollers who know the mountain well, the resort likely doesn't have the capacity to do avalanche control and provide safety measures on the higher slopes.
Skiers and snowboarders I rode the lift with didn't seem to have a lot of complaints, though one New Jersey skier mentioned the morning crowds. Several snowboarders were excited to find some powder stashes as more runs opened. Again, I didn't find that unusual given it was a powder day. But, like me, they were disappointed about not being able to access the upper lifts. Many seemed sympathetic toward the striking ski patrollers.
As of Monday, 25 of Park City Mountain's 41 lifts were running and 103 of 350 trails were open, about the same as it was over the weekend. The resort has opened 51 additional trails since the strike began, covering 2,277 acres, according to Vail.
Are skiers canceling trips to Park City?
Whether potential visitors are dropping Park City from their ski vacation itineraries is hard to gauge.
Visit Park City has asked the Park City Area Lodging Association to round up some cancellation statistics to determine the extent that the strike is having on the lodging community. It doesn't expect to hear back until later this week.
"We are hopeful that both sides of this dispute find a resolution quickly so that operations at Park City Mountain are restored to normalcy," said Dan Howard, Visit Park City vice president of communications.
