| It's been a rough couple of weeks for Telluride Ski and Golf
The resort is fighting with Mountain Village over snowmaking, residents just voted to slap a 5% tax on daily lift tickets to make up for the company reneging on a deal to help with gondola improvements, and locals have created a whole website dedicated to ousting resort owner Chuck Horning.
On top of that, thanks to a depressingly dismal snowfall so far this season, opening day has been pushed back to Dec. 6.
Now, Telski has an even bigger problem: the looming threat of a ski patrol strike if negotiations with the union don't move toward the middle by opening day.
I spoke extensively with Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association President Graham Hoffman yesterday, and Saturday's paper will dive into the whole story.
It ended up being a long one. To fully understand what a strike would mean, I first wanted to outline what it takes to become a ski patroller and hoe much thee professionals really do for the mountain.
We also discussed the union negotiations, and the difficulty Telski may face if ski patrol walks off the job.
One thing was clear; Ski patrolling is difficult and dangerous work that requires a combination of medical training and extreme athletic ability. For an entire team to do it well, the old heads need to teach the young ones, and extensive knowledge of the specific mountain is imperative.
If patrol strikes, reps say, it's hard to see how Telluride could safely replace them, even if it were to find patrollers with experience elsewhere.
But, Hoffman promised the team will be on the mountain opening day, and hopes it will be there after, as the strike is a last resort.
In other ski news (my favorite kind of news), Powderhorn announced today that it will not open tomorrow as planned due to the aforementioned lack of snow. But, whatever the weather, the annual Voyager Ski Swap will go down tomorrow and Saturday at the Ouray County Fairgrounds, so stop by if you need to gear up!
Cheers,
Kylea QUICK LINKS |
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