SAM Magazine—Crested Butte, Colo., Feb. 14, 2025—The unionized lift mechanics at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) reached a contract agreement with resort owner Vail Resorts this week, ending a protracted negotiation that began in January 2024 and avoiding a strike, which the 12-member team authorized at the end of January 2025.Credit: Crested Butte

According to reports, the new contract gives new mechanics an increase of $3.50 an hour and longer-tenured mechanics an increase of $9 an hour, with an average $6 an hour increase for the group. It also includes an annual stipend to pay for tools and equipment, as well as help paying for wilderness first-aid training, something that union president and five-year CBMR lift mechanic Thomas Pearman told the Colorado Sun’s Jason Blevins gives his team “peace of mind in case something goes wrong” while they’re out working in remote areas of the resort.

According to Blevins’ report, bargaining sessions went from happening six hours a month since January 2024 to once a week following the end of the Park City Mountain ski patrol strike Jan. 8, 2025. Still, Pearman said that talks with Vail Resorts only started moving in the right direction after the union authorized a strike and started raising money to fund a strike if it should come to that. 

“It was a night and day change between before and after we authorized a strike,” Pearman told the Crested Butte News. “We didn’t want to inconvenience the community or anyone coming here on vacation, we were just fighting for fair wages and good training. It’s definitely a relief to get things wrapped up.”

“With this agreement, we are pleased to make an investment in the Crested Butte lift maintenance team to ensure the team’s wages are consistent with those of lift maintenance team members working at our other mountain resorts in the Rocky Mountain region,” said CBMR general manager JD Crichton. 

The Crested Butte lift mechanics are represented by the United Mountain Workers, which also represents several ski patrol unions in the West. Park City Mountain is the only other lift maintenance union represented by the UMW.