Instead of an alarm clock, many winter mornings I wake up to the sounds of dynamite echoing off the mountain as avalanche mitigation begins for the day. I might just be getting ready to take some turns, but for hours ski patrol has been on the mountain making sure the runs are safe and ready.

There is always a bit of jealousy watching a team of patrollers get the first tracks on a bluebird powder day, but those runs are earned by the hours spent hiking to the summit in white-out conditions through blistering wind and freezing cold to get those trails open and keep skier safe.

Ski Patrol is a fundamentally dangerous job, one that requires training and years of experience to master. That is why those of us who receive daily benefits from our incredible local ski patrols should support the efforts of Arapahoe Basin Ski Patrol members to join their colleagues at Breckenridge and Keystone and unionize under the United Professional Ski Patrols of America, CWA Local 7781.

This week it was announced that 70 percent of ski patrollers at A-Basin signed a unionization petition. A vote that will make the union official is expected to take place in the next few weeks. With this overwhelming support from their employees the mountain and its new owners at Alterra should forgo union-busting tactics designed to interfere with and disrupt this process. The community in Summit and the surrounding areas who patronize the mountain should let management know we will be watching closely and would find these actions both immoral and antithetical to the values of our community. Once the vote occurs management must, without delay and in good faith, engage in a bargaining process to agree to ratify a first contract as quickly as possible.

While a skilled profession that requires training and years of mountain experience to master, very often patrollers are paid low wages that are not livable, especially in Summit County. Additionally it is in all our interests that those responsible for our safety on the mountain be able to build a stable career, not be forced perhaps after a few seasons on the mountain to find work that pays a salary allowing them to build a life, have a family while remaining in our community. 

Collective bargaining is about more than raising wages. It is fundamentally about using a united voice to advocate for a better workplace. For ski patrollers this means using their power to create better protocols and have a united voice in the management of safety conditions on the mountain. Their workplace should support their career development and allow them to make all of our experiences on the mountain safer and more enjoyable.

As A-Basin Ski Patroller Kali Flaherty explained to CBS, “I do think that we have a great product, it is just about being able to create a team environment for us where we can go out and safely say ‘We have all our resources, all of our people that we need, all of the educational resources we might want to pursue, and elevating that for ourselves.'”

Throughout my career I have been both a member of a union and managed a unionized organization. In both cases my workplaces were drastically improved by the presence of a union. Employees were more satisfied, procedures and processes were standardized, and workers felt they had a voice.

As the union wrote on its Instagram page, “The union will guarantee that we have a voice at the table to negotiate for what is important to us as a staff. We hope to work closely with management to ensure we receive the benefits, compensation, and respect we deserve for our hard work. We also hope that our community—both in Summit County and the surrounding areas—will come together to support the values and goals we stand for.”

Every day on the mountain we rely on ski patrol to keep us safe, keep the mountain open, and when we get injured to help get us to safety. Ski Patrollers at A-Basin and every resort in Summit County deserve to earn a living wage, work in safe conditions and be empowered to use their collective voices to advocate for their rights. They risk their health and safety for us. The least we can do is stand in solidarity with them as they advocate for their rights.