(Reuters) – Skiers vacationing at Park City, Utah (NYSE: ), the largest U.S. ski resort, reported on social media that they faced long lift lines and some closed slopes on Tuesday as a strike by ski patrol workers entered its fifth day .
Nearly 200 ski patrol and security workers strike to demand higher pay at Park City Mountain Resort, which owns Vail Resorts Inc (NYSE: ), demanding a starting 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, with many ski patrols still operating, Vail Resorts said in an emailed statement. The company said in an email that it does not disclose employee numbers.
The union, the Park City Professional Ski Patrol, said in an email that there are usually 120 people on patrol, but there were between 30 and 35 on Tuesday.
The union said in a social media post that Vail Resorts “flew in scabs” from other resorts to work in Park City.
Sara Huey, a spokeswoman for Vail Resorts, said in an email that the company has met 24 of 27 union requests since the ski patrol contract expired in April. She did not provide any details about the demands the company failed to meet.
Huey said Vail has increased ski patrol wages by more than 50% over the past four ski seasons, pushing the average hourly wage to more than $25.
The 7,300-acre ski area was not selling lift tickets this week, according to local media reports and a Park City employee who declined to be named, leaving the resort open only to annual passholders.
Vail Resorts operates more than three dozen ski resorts, including Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado, Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada, and Stowe in Vermont.
