🧗‍♀️All-Women Team Claims First Ascent in Remote Patagonia

Good morning, Stoke Crew. Why is reading The Stoke Report like Thanksgiving dinner? Both involve getting stuffed... one with turkey, the other with stoke!! Hope you all have a good day and safe travels xoxo - Tyler

In today's report

• Women continue redefining what's possible in alpine climbing
• Monarch Mountain's 377-acre expansion
• Copper hosts world cup this weekend
• What resorts are open?

TODAY'S STOKE STORY

🧗‍♀️ All-Women Team Claims First Ascent in Remote Patagonia

Three mountain guides just pulled off something incredible in Patagonia, completing the first ascent of Cerro Steffen's unclimbed 900-meter West Face. Paloma Farkas, Catalina Unwin, and Angelina Di Prinzio had spent three brutal days reaching the base of this peak that hasn't been climbed since 1965. When falling rocks cored one of their two skinny climbing ropes on the opening pitch, they quickly assessed the situation and decided to jury-rig a solution rather than bail on their dream.

The team simul-climbed through technical mixed terrain and 60-degree couloirs with big crevasses, only to discover their planned comfortable bivy spot was actually steep glacial ice requiring them to spend a horrible night squeezed together on a tiny ledge, hanging from anchors with sleeping bags wrapped around their legs. After a rough night where bailing seemed likely, they fired up their satellite phone in the morning, got word they were only 80 meters from the summit, and pushed through to the top by 10 a.m., naming their new route Sincronía (Synchrony) for how naturally everything clicked between them.

• Simul-climbing: When climbers climb at the same time while tied to the same rope. Instead of one person climbing while the other stands still and belays, all climbers are moving together. It's faster, but less safe, because if one person falls, it can pull the others off too.

Why It Matters: This expedition showcases both the power of all-female climbing teams and the value of grants specifically supporting women's climbing objectives. The team met through a Grit & Rock grant funding female expeditions, highlighting the importance of these programs in creating opportunities for women climbers to tackle big objectives. Di Prinzio noted how climbing with an all-female team allowed her to see her true potential without the dynamics that sometimes emerge in mixed-gender teams, where men might assume they'll lead the hardest pitches. The climb itself is a significant achievement on a remote, rarely-attempted Patagonian peak.

LOCAL STOKELIGHT

❄️ Colorado Headlines

Monarch Mountain's 377-acre No Name Basin expansion leads the pack for Colorado ski improvements this season, opening with 10 new runs and a fixed-grip triple chair serving intermediate, advanced, and gladed terrain on the backside of the Continental Divide! The $10 million project represents the independent ski area's largest investment in 23 years of ownership, adding to a mountain that's seen season pass sales climb 7% to 20% annually for the past seven years and nearly doubled visitation since 2002.

Why It Matters: These upgrades signal a broader shift in Colorado skiing as independent mountains prove they can compete and thrive by offering authentic experiences without mega-resort hassles. Monarch has doubled visitation since 2002 which shows strong demand for reasonably priced, crowd-free skiing.

Colorado is hosting the world's best ski racers this Thanksgiving week with the Stifel Copper Cup bringing World Cup alpine racing to Copper Mountain from November 27-30! The four-race series includes men's super-G and giant slalom alongside women's giant slalom and slalom, marking the fourth stop of the 2025-26 World Cup season. Spectating is free, though grandstand tickets sold out quickly. The big name to watch is American star Mikaela Shiffrin, who's coming in hot after showing serious strength following a major injury that derailed her previous season, including two slalom wins and a fourth-place giant slalom finish in the three European races leading up to Colorado.

MOUNTAIN BRIEFING

💡 What Colorado resorts are currently open?

What else is going on

• International visitors to 11 U.S. National Parks will face a $100 per person fee on top of standard entrance fees next year
• $15 Million bounty for Olympic Snowboarder turned ‘Drug Kingpin’
• Jeff Davis, who led Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s wolf reintroduction efforts, steps down as agency director

Trailhead Trivia

What is the 24-hour snowfall record in Colorado?

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Answer!

75.8 inches (6+ feet), recorded at Silver Lake near Boulder on April 14-15, 1921.