Ski instructors across major U.S. resorts have been putting down their ski poles and picking up a picket sign. Instructors at Colorado’s Telluride Ski Resort have become the latest group to go on strike. Many instructors say that while these ski resorts are located in the lap of luxury, their paychecks cannot keep up with the cost of living.

Where have ski instructors been striking?
Telluride has quickly become the center of the recent labor movement. The ski resort’s union, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association, began a strike last month over wages, forcing Telluride to shut down its slopes. While the resort has partially reopened, officials worry the town is “staring down an economic crisis if the ski resort and its patrollers don’t settle their labor dispute” and fully reopen, said The Denver Post.

Ski patrollers at Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Mountain Resort put forth a petition to unionize, part of “widespread labor activity at American ski resorts,” said Jackson Hole News & Guide. And in early 2025, patrollers in Park City, Utah, went on strike, which “caused the resort to close most of its terrain for nearly two weeks,” said NBC News. Workers at three Colorado mountains (Keystone Resort, Eldora Mountain and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area) have also unionized.

What are they striking for?
Most of the labor activism has centered on cost-of-living issues, which ski instructors say are in stark contrast to the wealth often on display at these resorts. These patrollers are “increasingly leading the push for higher wages,” said NBC. 

The starting wage for a ski patroller trainee at Telluride is $21 per hour, according to a job posting. So union negotiators put forth a proposal that “increased the base rate for station leads to $41 an hour and gave staff annual increases,” said KKCO-TV Grand Junction. 

Current wages “aren’t enough to live on in one of the most expensive housing markets in America,” said Tony Daranyi, who has worked as a ski patroller in Telluride for 27 years, to NBC. The amount the instructors make is “far below what it takes somebody in this community to afford either rent” or an affordable house. The strike is a “reflection of what’s going on in all mountain communities, and it’s also a reflection of what’s going on nationwide with income inequality.”

“Inconvenience is the cost of community” has become an online mantra amid debate about the effort required to maintain connections and whether it’s worth the bother. Arguments are raging about “sacrifice” and “what we actually ‘owe’ each other,” said Maybelle Morgan at Dazed, as people ponder how often they should put others first.

‘Protect your peace’ 
Not long ago, the saying “protect your peace” was rife on social media, said Morgan. The focus was on “stress-free” living and “limiting exposure” to challenging situations, and we were encouraged to “say ‘no’ to things, set boundaries, cut off people who ‘trauma-dump’ and religiously practice self-care.” But this motto promotes “avoidance rather than tools for healthier connection” and appears to reflect a wider trend. 

Global emotional intelligence has declined by 6%, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology that analyzed data from 166 countries between 2019 and 2024. The modern lifestyle has “optimized away the inconveniences that create interdependence,” leaving some people “incapable of handling difference,” said psychology scholar Andrea Carter at The Conversation. Digital platforms have exacerbated this voluntary segregation. Most of us look at “belief-aligned feeds” that reflect our attitudes and avoid the “discomfort that growth requires.”  

‘Prioritizing emotional wellness’ 
Even close relationships can be affected. In North America, 130 million people are estranged from a relative, according to The Harris Poll, which tracks trends in the U.S. 

Dating is also becoming harder, said Hena Bryan at Glamour. Women are “prioritizing emotional wellness” and establishing “firm boundaries.” With many men “refusing the emotional work that makes relationships thrive,” women are deciding that “being alone is often safer and more fulfilling than dating someone unwilling, or unable, to meet them halfway.” 

But the effort is worth it, according to an 80-year study by Harvard University. The “quality of our relationships” helps us live “longer, happier” lives, according to the research, said Morgan. Inconvenience is an “investment,” psychotherapist Kamalyn Kaur said to Dazed. Community “provides the grounding force of being seen, known and supported” through life’s ups and downs. There’s “space in our lives for both self-care and community care.”

Two men roll a large snowball near the Eiffel Tower today in Paris. The conditions brought by Storm Goretti are set to persist for weeks across much of central and northern Europe, causing travel chaos across the region.
Oleg Nikishin / Getty Images

If you are going to set one New Year’s resolution, make it this: Try new things. If you are down for a second resolution, why not go with spending more time in the great outdoors? Combine both intentions by visiting one of these shiny new hotels, where being in nature is one of the built-in amenities.

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This property fits right in with the splendor of the Alps. The 13-room hotel is a renovated 16th-century guesthouse from Artfarm, filled with antiques and decor made from Swiss stone pine, a “fragrant high-altitude wood known for its calming properties,” said The New York Times. (now open)

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At this intimate and immersive safari camp (pictured above), guests will be in the middle of the action. Three solar-powered luxury tents, complete with super king beds and showers, sit in the Okavango Delta, where wildlife like lions, leopards, cheetahs and wild dogs roam year-round. Activities will include going on game drives and walking safaris, and with a maximum of six guests at any time, it will feel like you have the whole place to yourself. (opens March)