(Corrected in paragraph 9 to show that same-day lift tickets were only suspended on Monday, not that they were suspended on Monday and Tuesday)
(Reuters) – Skiers at Park City, Utah (NYSE:), the largest ski resort in the United States, reported on social media that they faced long lift lines and some closed runs on Tuesday as a strike by ski patrollers entered its fifth day.
Nearly 200 ski patrol and safety workers are on strike to demand higher wages at Park City Mountain Resort, owned by Park City Mountain Corporation. Vail Resorts Company (NYSE:), is demanding an entry-level base wage of $23 an hour, up from the current $21, according to an emailed statement from the ski patrol union.
This week is the busiest ski week of the year.
Park City remained open Tuesday, and several ski patrols were still working, Vail Resorts said in an email statement. The company said in an email that it does not disclose employment numbers.
The union, Park City Professional Ski Patrol, said in an email that there are usually 120 people on patrol, but on Tuesday there were between 30 and 35 people.
In a social media post, the union said Vail Resorts had been “flown in from other resorts to work in Park City.”
Vail Resorts spokeswoman Sarah Huey said in an email that the company has met 24 of the union's 27 demands since the ski patrol contract expired in April. No details were provided regarding the demands that the company did not meet.
Vail has increased ski patrol wages by more than 50% over the past four ski seasons, bringing the average hourly wage to more than $25, Huey said.
The 7,300-acre ski resort did not sell same-day lift tickets on Monday, but resumed same-day ticket sales on Tuesday, Huey said.
Vail Resorts operates more than thirty ski resorts, including Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado, Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada, and Stowe in Vermont.
