Breckenridge Ski Patrol Union Reaches Tentative Contract Agreement With Vail Resorts

Following a November 13 bargaining session with Vail Resorts that went late into the evening, the Breckenridge Ski Patrol Union has reached a tentative contract agreement that will run through November 15, 2028, the Summit Daily reported. The union’s bargaining committee is unanimously recommending that the contract be ratified by its members.

According to a statement shared by the Summit Daily attributed to Breckenridge and the patrollers, both parties won’t be taking media requests until the contract is ratified. 

Breckenridge’s ski patrol voted to unionize in 2021. Their previous union contract was set to expire on November 15, 2025. The union has been in negotiations over its new contract with Vail Resorts since April 2025. 

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As a result of the recent agreement, a picket that was tentatively scheduled to take place on November 16 will not occur. 

On November 11, Breckenridge Ski Patrol Union president Ryan Dineen notified the Breckenridge Town Council of a potential picket, depending on how negotiations with Vail Resorts went.

Unlike Park City Professional Ski Patrol Union’s nearly two-week strike during the 2024-25 season, which had significant impacts on resort operations, Breckenridge patrol union members still planned to work their scheduled shifts during the picket. Breckenridge opened for the season on November 7. 

Like other unionized patrol units that have negotiated new contracts over the last year, Breckenridge Ski Patrol Union was working to secure increased wages, better benefits, and more education opportunities.

Breckenridge is one of a few ski patrol unions at Vail Resorts-owned ski mountains to agree on a new union contract since the beginning of the 2024-25 ski season. Park City Professional Ski Patrol and Keystone Ski Patrol Union both negotiated and ratified new contracts this year. 

Elsewhere, unionized ski patrollers and lift mechanics at non-Vail resorts like Eldora, Arapahoe Basin, Solitude, Telluride, and others have established unions or negotiated new contracts this past year.

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