(NewsNation) — Telluride Ski Resort in southwestern Colorado closed indefinitely on Saturday amid an ongoing labor dispute between the resort’s owner and the local ski patrol union.

For months, the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association had been calling for wage increases to account for the growing cost of living in the ski town. Last week, the association voted to go on strike on Saturday after rejecting a pay increase contract it had been offered. The New York Times reports that the offer would have raised the starting pay for patrollers to about $24 an hour, with the union noting that the current average pay for a ski patroller is $29 an hour.

The resort is one of the most popular ski destinations in the U.S., with the town of Telluride being a frequent haunt for big name celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld and Dierks Bentley. CBS News reports that the resort’s owner, Chuck Horning, a real-estate investor, has condemned the strike, saying the union rejected the resort’s “best and final offer.”

A statement on the resort’s website reads: “Due to the Ski Patrol’s unfortunate choice to strike, we have made the difficult decision to close the resort on Saturday, December 27th. Currently, we have no idea how long their strike will last, so we will continue to work on a plan that allows us to safely open again as soon as possible.”

The ski patroller union has pushed back against the resort’s claims that it is responsible for the shutdown of the mountain. In a statement on Instagram Saturday, the union wrote, “we exhausted every idea to avert this situation, and we compromised below our comfort level and bottom line to move the conversation forward in good faith.”

CBS News reports that Telluride Mayor Teddy Errico has described the strike and closure as “unprecedented,” expressing concern about the potential economic impact on the community if it continues.

“In the wintertime, the Telluride ski resort is our economic driver, and you can’t shy away from that,” Errico said.