The cost of lift tickets at Telluride will rise if the southern Colorado resort meets its ski patroller union’s demand for higher wages, owner Chuck Horning said Thursday in a frank email to local businesses.

The union, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrollers Association, has been negotiating with the resort for months as it seeks to secure better pay and other benefits to bolster retention in its workforce. The action follows that of similar ski patrol unions in Colorado and other states, which have been arguing that their specialized skills deserve more money.

“If the community believes we should meet the union’s demands — even if we believe they are unreasonable — there is only one way to do it is (sic) to pass the entire cost to lift tickets and season pass prices,” the Horning’s e

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