Good morning, Stoke Crew. The mountains finally got a taste of winter this week, and if you scored some powder turns, I'm stoked for you. Anyway, here's what's happening in the outdoor world.
In today's report
- How did team USA do?
- Environmental plans for Aspen
- How this dry winter is affecting ski towns
Olympics
🏅 Recap: Milan Cortina Olympics
🇺🇸 Team USA is leaving Milan Cortina Olympics with swagger, momentum, and a record-setting 12 gold medals beating the all-time U.S. mark set at Salt Lake City 2002. Headlined by golden moments from Mikaela Shiffrin's slalom redemption, Alysa Liu's magical figure skating free skate, and Megan Keller's overtime backhander that beat Canada for women's hockey gold. But the single most impressive individual showing may belong to 21-year-old speed skater Jordan Stolz, who won two golds and a silver in three races!
- Breezy Johnson set the tone on day one with downhill gold, her first-ever Olympic medal, four years after a knee injury kept her out of Beijing. She ended her Games with a proposal from fiancé Connor Watkins at the finish line.
- Megan Keller's overtime game-winner for hockey gold was an instant classic: a backhander that left a Canadian defender useless, 4:07 into sudden death.
- Elana Meyers Taylor, 41, won monobob gold at her fifth Olympics. Becoming the oldest U.S. woman to win a Winter Olympic gold and tying Bonnie Blair for most medals by an American woman in Winter Games history (six). She came from behind on the final run by just 0.04 seconds.
- Ben Ogden broke a 50-year U.S. cross-country skiing medal drought with sprint silver.
- The 2026 games are the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics in history and the most geographically widespread, with venues across Milan, Cortina, Val di Fiemme, Livigno, and Bormio.
Why It Matters: The U.S. squad showed depth across skiing, skating, hockey, and bobsled. Beating the all-time gold record with athletes spanning ages 15 to 54 proves this isn't a one-discipline team. It's the whole mountain.
⛷️⛰️ Ski mountaineering crowned its first-ever Olympic champions on February 19, with Switzerland's Marianne Fatton and Spain's Oriol Cardona Coll winning the inaugural sprint gold medals in heavy snowfall at the Stelvio Ski Centre. Fatton, a reigning world champion, used lightning-fast transitions to beat France's Emily Harrop for gold. Cardona Coll dominated the men's, snapping a 54-year winter gold medal drought for Spain. France's Thibault Anselmet took men's bronze; Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez claimed women's bronze while competing on a torn ACL, securing Spain's first medal of the Games moments before Cardona Coll made it two.
- The mixed relay on Saturday saw France's Emily Harrop and Thibault Anselmet win gold, holding off Switzerland's Fatton and Jon Kistler by 11.86 seconds. Spain's Rodriguez and Cardona Coll took bronze. USA's Cam Smith and Anna Gibson took 4th.
- Crested Butte's Cam Smith made it to the men's sprint semifinals but did not qualify for the final.
Why It Matters: The first new Winter Olympic sport since 2002 delivered everything organizers hoped for! Drama, speed, and international parity. For the backcountry community, seeing their sport on the global stage is a milestone. Skimo hasn't been confirmed for 2030 yet, but France's hosting makes it a strong bet.
⛷️🥇 Aspen's Alex Ferreira won Olympic halfpipe Skiing gold on February 20 with a clutch third-run score of 93.75, completing the medal set after silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022. The 31-year-old overhauled his entire lifestyle after Beijing (8 p.m. curfew, no missed gym days, brought his own food on the road) to get here. Estonia's Henry Sildaru took silver (93.00); Canada's Brendan Mackay grabbed bronze (91.00) on the final run. Ferreira is now the oldest men's halfpipe gold medalist in Olympic history.
Why It Matters: Got the silver, got the bronze…got the gold. Ferreira spoke it into reality. The most dominant halfpipe skier of his generation now has the only hardware that was missing, earned on a clutch third run when everything was on the line. At 31, he leaves Livigno as a three-time Olympic medalist and a champion. The full set is complete!
⛷️ Eileen Gu defended her Olympic halfpipe title on Sunday with a 94.75, the highest halfpipe score of the entire Games. Becoming the most decorated freeskier in Olympic history with six medals in six events across two Olympics. The 22-year-old, also winning slopestyle and big air silver!
Environment
❄️ Low Snow, High Stakes, Tahoe Buried
🏔️ Colorado's mountain resort destinations are seeing lower occupancy and revenues as historically-dry conditions draw skiers to other Western states. California, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana all have below-average snow but are outperforming Colorado and Utah, where conditions are worse. Mountain hotel and Airbnb booking pace was down roughly 25% from the prior year as of early January.
Why It Matters: When snow underperforms, so does everything: lodging, dining, sales tax revenue that funds mountain-town budgets. This season is a preview of what climate change means for Colorado's bottom line.
🌲 Pitkin County has released an updated Comprehensive Plan laying the foundation for its "Vision 2050 Project," a sweeping climate and growth management framework targeting the natural environment, built environment, and community economic health. The plan traces back to the county's 2019 climate emergency declaration and the formation of a 26-person citizen committee in 2024 to analyze growth challenges through a climate lens. Senior Long-Range Planner Hannah Hunt described the vision as "implementing bold climate action, balancing our economy, preserving rural and wild lands and supporting an equitable and affordable community."
- New policies include increased water adequacy and conservation requirements, incentives for homes under 3,250 square feet, support for agricultural producers and local food, regional transportation planning, and workforce support regardless of where employees live.
Why It Matters: Pitkin County is trying to do what most mountain communities talk about but rarely execute: tie land use, housing, and growth decisions directly to climate goals. The 3,250-square-foot home incentive is a direct shot at the mega-mansion culture that dominates the Roaring Fork Valley. Whether Vision 2050 actually changes building patterns or becomes another well-intentioned plan on a shelf will depend on the code updates that follow.
🌨️ The heaviest storm cycle of the season just hammered Tahoe: Sugar Bowl reported 103-111 inches over seven days, Kirkwood got 92 inches, Palisades 87 inches, and Northstar 80 inches.
📚 Trailhead Trivia
When were the Olympic gold medals last made entirely of gold?
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1912
See you soon,
Tyler
Creator — THE STOKE REPORT
