After 15 months of bargaining, the Arapahoe Basin Ski Patrol Union has officially entered into a two-year-long contract with the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, codifying insurance benefits, increasing wages and outlining pathways for career progression.
The contract, which was ratified on Oct. 3, came as an "immense relief" to union member Jack Western, who was part of the union's bargaining committee.
"I feel a weight lifted off of me to have our first contract and have it in place," Western said. "It exists, and we can just do our jobs. That's been the dream for a couple years now."
In January 2025, the patrollers officially unionized and became part of United Mountain Workers Local 7781, which represents ski industry workers across the western United States, including patrollers at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Keystone Resort and Loveland Ski Area. Since then, Western said, the patrollers and ski area have been "operating per the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 under status quo."
The act mandates that, in the interim between when a union is established but before a contract is officially ratified, employers must maintain status quo for wages, hours and other conditions of employment. During this period, any proposed changes must be negotiated with the union.
"There's no terms specifically. It's just that nothing is allowed to be unilaterally changed," Western explained. "(Employers) can't suddenly change the wages or change the structure of our patrol or remove our benefits. ... It's a way to protect organizers and union supporters from retaliatory treatment by management in the interim until the contract exists."
The process of creating that contract began in July 2025 and ended this month when both parties entered into their first official agreement as employer and union.
"The new agreement provides for a compensation system that rewards patrollers based on skills and certifications, plus a new staging program that better defines their career progression," said the official joint statement from A-Basin and the patroller's union. "We are all looking forward to continuing to provide our guests with the very best service on and off the mountain we all love."
According to the statement, changes will go into effect for the upcoming 2026-2027 season.
Changes to wages, career pathways
The new union contract outlines some wage increases, commensurate with experience and skill level, and guarantees an annual 3% cost of living adjustment.
"Everyone increased a different amount based on their experience, based on different responsibilities they take on within our patrol and different things like that," Western said. "Every person is making more than they were previously. Whether that's a 5% increase or a 25% increase, it's still larger than a 3% cost of living adjustment, which was somewhat typical in the past but not guaranteed."
The contract also allows for further pay increases based on extra skills or responsibilities, like being bilingual or helping build and maintain signage.
"You get additional per hour wage increases based on those types of things," Western explained. "We have a toboggan training specialist. ... We have certified level A (and) certified level B dog handlers, both of which have certain per hour wage increases. We (an) have ALS provider -- advanced life support provider -- whether that's a Colorado paramedic or Colorado nurse."
And standard wages have increased too, based on a new system that divides patrollers into three tiers of experience and skill levels, rather than five, which is how employees were previously organized.
"The base rates for each of these levels are significantly higher than they were before," Western said.
With wages for most patrollers increasing, Western said the contract ensures that long-term employees don't experience wage compression, which can happen when new employees get hired at higher or similar wages to more senior employees.
"One of the things that we also did in order to alleviate potential wage compression, especially for those who've been around for quite a long time, was a one-time adjustment, (a) certain number of cents added to your wage for each full-time year that you've worked at A-Basin, and a certain amount added for each part-time season you've worked at A-Basin on ski patrol," Western said. "If you've been there for 20 years, you're not now suddenly making the same amount as someone who's been there for three."
In addition to opening pathways for employees to get paid more, Western said the changes could help patrollers to see their jobs as viable long-term career options, rather than "a short-term stepping stone towards something else."
"You can dedicate yourself to being a ski patroller and being a really good ski patroller," he said. "All that does is improve the quality of the mountain experience for ourselves and for our guests and improves safety for our patrol team and for the visiting public."
Changes to canine programs
Western is a certified A-level dog handler and has an avalanche search dog. Under the new union contract, Western and other patrollers that work with dogs will receive extra benefits.
"One of the things I'm happy to see now is that the company will provide annual pet insurance. The company will pay the premium, handler will pay a deductible. It means that we're able to take our dogs to whatever vet that we see fit, or that we have a good relationship with or that is close by to us, and know that our dog can be taken care of. If a certain vet is closed, we don't have to wait until they open because that's who we have a deal with."
The ski patrollers will also now have a designated "canine program leader."
"Having someone dedicated to leading and coordinating the success of our canine program is great," Western said. "In the past, that's been conflated with other roles that other people have had, and it's just made it difficult for them to focus efforts on supporting the dog teams."
Western said these changes brought A-Basin's dog program "up to par" with other ski areas in the region.
"I'm just really pleased that we are matching a lot of what other dog programs are doing in the area," he said. "I think it increases our professionalism, and it makes ... me and my dog feel better taken care of."
"A little bit more security"
While the new union contract outlined plenty of changes, it also ensured that some things will stay the same, by codifying some benefits, like insurance, so that they are guaranteed to future patrollers.
"Some of the big wins and some of the things that we were looking for going into this were to codify things that we had at A-Basin that we thought were pretty great, that we didn't want changed under new Alterra leadership, or that we were afraid could have the potential to go away if they weren't codified," Western said.
Full-time patrollers have traditionally been able to access health, dental and vision insurance. Now, that access is guaranteed moving forward.
"It's pretty remarkable for us to have comprehensive health insurance coverage," Western said. "I'm just happy that we were able to codify that and maintain that benefit for us going forward."
The contract also guarantees reimbursements for food for A-Basin's canines.
"In the past ... dogs that were certified to our level B and level A in-house certification levels were reimbursed for food costs," Western said. "I'm happy to see that codified."
Having a formal union contract also gives the patrollers some "inherent" benefits.
One of these benefits, Western said, is that the patrollers are no longer at-will employees.
In general, Colorado is an at-will employment state, meaning employers can hire and fire workers at will. Under the new union contract, workers cannot be fired without just cause.
"A lot of the reason that a lot of places -- apart from just ski patrol, but elsewhere -- are interested in unionizing is working in an at-will state, it can be rather tenuous. You can be fired for no reason at all at any time," Western said. "It's nice to know that you have a little bit more security."
And although the adoption of a formal contract is a "win" for A-Basin's patrollers, Western said it's not theirs alone to celebrate.
"It's a win across the board for the county. (A) rising tide lifts all ships," Western said. "If we're winning, then Breckenridge and Keystone and Loveland are also winning. ... The better each of us does, the better we all do."
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