There’s a sticker plastered around Telluride that reads “Crazy is still better than corporate.”
The gist is that Chuck Horning, the owner of Telluride ski area — who is often unpredictable in both his behavior and business decisions — is better than ownership by a large company.
The coming weeks will test that theory.
In an unprecedented move, Horning announced Wednesday he will closethe resort Saturday, Dec. 27, when ski patrollers are planning to strike after months of failed wage negotiations.
“Telluride didn’t make this decision — the strike nor the timing of it,” reads a statement from Horning published the day after the ski patrol union voted to strike. “We are naturally disappointed that the ski patrol made this choice during such a busy time. They have repeatedly said publicly in town meetings that if they decide to strike, it would be their ‘nuclear option.’ We are concerned that any organization, particularly one that exists to help people, would do something that will have such a devastating effect on our community.”
The statement said the resort will be working on a plan to reopen “as soon as possible.”
At the height of the ski season, Telluride Ski and Golf employs around 1,500 seasonal workers. It’s unknown the staffing right now, as slow-to-arrive snowfall hinders resort operations.
All but one person in the 78-member Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association, which includes six supervisors, voted Tuesday night to go on strike starting Saturday. The vote followed more than 16 negotiating sessions in recent months with the Telluride Ski and Golf Co. The patrollers are seeking a three-year contract with a median wage increase of $8 an hour while the ski area’s last offer in early December was about $4 an hour. The difference between the groups totals about $115,000 over the entirety of the three-year contract.
The strike will mark the second ski patroller walkout at a U.S. ski resort in the last year. Ski patrollers at Park City Mountain Resort — the largest ski area in the country — launched a 12-day strike in late December last year. The owner of the Utah ski area — Vail Resorts — endured a public relations crisis as the resort struggled to open new terrain without its patrollers. Skiers filed lawsuits against Vail Resorts and the company’s stock price fell $10 a share during the work stoppage. With about 37.5 million outstanding shares, that equates to Vail Resorts losing around $375 million in value during the strike. The company’s CEO, Kirsten Lynch, lost her job in the wake of the strike.
Telluride businesses owners earlier this month began bracing for a strike. The end-of-the-road resort community already is tracking declines in destination tourists after Horning canceled spending on marketing.
Local businesses have been working on messaging around activities beyond riding lifts. They are discussing special events to help visitors who are already in town. Everyone dependent on tourists in Telluride — and that’s a lot of people — is wondering what the next couple weeks will look like.
“While this situation is not optimal, the destination is mobilizing to provide alternate activities for guests currently in town and those arriving, in addition to the many experiences Telluride & Mountain Village regularly offer,” reads a statement from Kiera Skinner, the executive director at the Telluride Tourism Board. “We remain hopeful the parties will continue to work toward a resolution, and that normal operations will resume as soon as possible.”