The town of Telluride is staring down an economic crisis if the ski resort and its patrollers don’t settle their labor dispute in the coming days and reopen the mountain, local leaders said Tuesday.
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Mayor Teddy Errico called it “an unprecedented situation” in his state-of-the-town address.
“This situation has real impacts, both immediate and long-lasting, for many in our community. Those impacts are personal, economic, stressful and extremely dire. It’s important to acknowledge the seriousness of this moment. Workers, businesses, families and visitors are all feeling the uncertainty, and that deserves recognition,” Errico said.
The ski patrollers’ union, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association, initiated a strike on Dec. 27 after reaching an impasse during contract negotiations with the resort’s ownership, Telluride Ski & Golf. The union is seeking higher wages as well as a pay structure that incentivizes staff retention. Telluride Ski Resort closed the same day the strike started — during the height of holiday tourism — though it reopened limited terrain this week without its usual patrollers.
Town manager Zoe Dohnal shared new data showing that tourists are hesitant to book future ski trips to Telluride because of the strike and closure. The number of lodging accommodations booked during the month ending Jan. 5 is down 41% year-over-year, compared to similar resorts in Colorado and Utah that are only down 6.3%, she said.
February and March bookings are currently holding steady, but are increasingly tenuous, she added, and continued resort closure undermines the future of winter tourism. Dohnal said more than 40% of February’s lodging inventory and 65% of March’s have yet to be booked. She called the next one to two weeks a “critical inflection point for the remainder of the winter season.”
“Each additional day of resort closure has a compounding effect on the local economy. While the initial impacts were concentrated around visitor uncertainty and short-term cancellations, the effects are now directly impacting frontline workers, small businesses and essential service providers. This is no longer a future risk, and the impacts are here,” Dohnal said.
She cited businesses that have or plan to reduce hours and staff shifts, pause employee benefits, delay vendor payments and pause seasonal hiring.
“If there’s not a resolution in the coming week, the community is at risk for entering an economic crisis stage characterized by layoffs and the possibility of temporary and, in some cases, permanent business closures,” Dohnal said.
Telluride bookings plummet, anxiety rises as ski resort strike continues
One local business owner said during the public comment period that she was "terrified" and "frustrated" not only by the economic outlook, but also by the lack of contingency planning for a situation like this. Another was moved to tears while asking how small business owners might help hasten a resolution between the resort and patrollers.
Last week, business owners sent letters to both Telluride Ski Resort and the patrol union urging an agreement with "the fate of this community and our citizens hanging in the balance." An eatery called Latin Creations announced its closure midday Tuesday, saying "we cannot afford to keep the doors of our restaurant open anymore" because of the strike and closure.
Telluride Ski Patrol Union President Graham Hoffman sits in an empty ski lift chair for a picture near the Oak Street ski lift in Telluride, Colo., Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (Photo by William Woody/Special to The Denver Post)In an interview Tuesday, Graham Hoffman, president of the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association, said it is unfair to pin the business downturn solely on the ski patrol. Union members are acutely aware of the impact and took that into consideration for months ahead of launching a strike, he said.
“This is a much bigger issue that we just happen to be at the forefront of,” he said, referring to the fact that the entire winter economy is driven by a single entity, the ski resort. “Just because we’re refusing to sacrifice our safety and our wellbeing for this does not mean we don't care. This is our profession, these are our lives.”
Hoffman said bargaining continued over the weekend and that the union countered an offer made by Telski last Saturday.
“We had a good, productive conversation, and we gave them clear guardrails and guidelines on how this money needs to be structured in a way that alleviates our concerns, that helps to fix wage structure,” Hoffman said. He hopes to hear back from the company soon.
Telski was not immediately available to comment on negotiations or the economic impact the resort’s closure is having on the town.
During the town council meeting, leaders and members of the public also discussed ways to help bolster residents and businesses during this uncertain time. They spotlighted the Good Neighbor Fund, which has $500,000 available to help cover rent for locals impacted by the resort closure. Those who live or work in San Miguel County and surrounding areas can apply for $2,500 in rental assistance, Dohnal said.
The leaders of Telluride and neighboring Mountain Village plan to meet Wednesday evening to discuss how best to support businesses.
Despite the overall feeling of anxiety in Tuesday's meeting, Errico concluded his address with a message of hope: "We will get through this -- not by overlooking the challenges, but by facing them together, grounded in the values that make Telluride the place we care so deeply about. We will survive."
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