Sessions, sends, and season passes

Good morning, Stoke Crew. Honestly, the hardest part about writing this newsletter is coming up with something witty and charming for this opening every time and today I'm drawing a complete blank. Don't hate me! The good news is the rest of the sendition more than makes up for it. PS: Over 60% of you read THE STOKE REPORT every single Tuesday & Thursday! That means the world to me. I put a lot of time and effort into this and I'm glad you guys are getting some value out of it :) xoxo

In today's report

• 🎿 Vail Resorts is offering Gen Z a 20% discount on Epic Passes
• 🏗️ A $350 million development is about to break ground in Aspen
• 🧗 Alex Megos sent a 5.15b second ascent in France in four days
• ⛷️ The Natural Selection Tour launches its first-ever Ski Super Session at Palisades Tahoe
• 🏢 REI hired a former Foot Locker and Athleta exec

Local Updates

🌲 Vail reprices, Aspen rebuilds

🎿 Vail Resorts put 2026-27 Epic Pass products on sale with a new pricing tier: skiers and riders ages 13-30 get 20% off, bringing the full Epic Pass to $869 (down from $1,089 for adults 31+) and the Epic Local Pass to $649 (down from $809). The standard adult Epic Pass price is up about 3.6% from last year's early-bird number.

• Skiers who bought a lift ticket this season at any of Vail's 37 North American resorts can save an additional $175 off select passes. Combined with the Gen Z discount, that could bring the Epic Pass as low as $694 or the Epic Local as low as $474.
• CEO Rob Katz, who returned last May after his successor Kirsten Lynch stepped down, framed the move around the future of the sport: "The future of the sport depends on the next generation of skiers and riders."
• Context: Vail Resorts reported skier visits down 20% at the start of this season, with 14.9% drops in ski school revenue and 15.9% drops in food revenue. Epic Pass sales have declined for two consecutive seasons (down ~3% this year, ~2% last year).
• Ikon Pass pricing from rival Alterra has not yet been announced but typically follows within days.

Why It Matters: Vail is trying to solve two problems at once: declining pass sales and an aging customer base. A 20% discount for under-30s is a significant bet that hooking younger skiers now will pay off long-term, especially after a brutal low-snow season cratered visitation numbers. The question is whether discounting passes fixes the underlying issues (weather, experience quality, crowding) that have been driving customers away.

My Take: Big Ski definitely has its pros and cons. On the plus side, I love being able to ski multiple resorts under one pass. On the downside, overcrowding and the loss of that small-town ski mountain vibe are real drawbacks. I also think climate change, less snow and warmer winters is going to have an interesting impact on the ski industry's economy and the towns that depend on it. I'd love to hear your take, reply and let me know!

🏗️ Developers are preparing to break ground on "Chalet Alpina," a nearly $350 million redevelopment of Aspen Mountain's Lift 1 base area, the historic site of Aspen's first-ever rope tow and chairlift. The project, originally approved by town voters in a narrow 2019 vote, is targeting a 2029 completion.

• The development will include lodging, residences, commercial spaces, dining, a new parking garage, and a public plaza. The current Shadow Mountain chairlift (Chair 1A, a slow fixed-grip double) would be replaced by a new lift, likely a chondola.
• Historical preservation is baked into the plan: the base terminal and first couple of towers from the original 1A will be preserved in place. Two historic buildings on site will be relocated, with one becoming a restaurant and the other a ski museum in partnership with the Aspen Historical Society.
• Employee housing requirements include roughly 61 full-time equivalent units between the two projects.
• Separately, Aspen Ski Co. plans to replace the Little Nell and Bell Mountain chairlifts with a single high-speed quad, which would reduce Silver Queen lift lines and provide backup on windy days when the gondola can't run.

Why It Matters: This is the biggest physical transformation Aspen Mountain has seen in decades. The Lift 1 corridor has been an afterthought since the replacement chairlift was moved up the mountain. A $350 million redevelopment with a chondola, public plaza, and ski museum could shift the center of gravity at Aspen's base. Whether it enhances or further prices out the community will depend on execution, especially the employee housing component.

MOUNTAIN BRIEFING

⛰️ Big mountains, bigger moves

🧗 Alex Megos has made the second ascent of Le Bruit de l'Acid (5.15b / 9b) in Claret, France, a route first established by Jules Marchaland in April 2025. It took Megos just four days of effort. The crux is a committing dyno to a pinch on a tufa, which Megos called "for sure one of the best moves I've ever done on a route."

• With this send, Megos has now climbed at least a dozen routes graded 5.15b or higher, cementing his position alongside Adam Ondra and Seb Bouin at the top of sport climbing's hardest tier.
• Megos had an epic 2025: first ascent of Taureg Blanco 5.15b/c in Margalef, the first-ever flash of Agincourt (France's first 5.14b), first ascent of Le Grand Saccage 5.15a/b, and repeats of Adam Ondra's Iron Curtain 5.15a and Kangaroo's Limb 5.15a in Flatanger, Norway.
• He also recently went on a bouldering spree at Fontainebleau, sending multiple V14 problems.

Why It Matters: When one of the strongest sport climbers alive calls a single move one of the best he's ever done, it says something about the route. Megos continues to operate at a level where 5.15b sends are almost routine, four days from first attempt to send, and the global tick list keeps growing.

⛷️ The Natural Selection Tour has launched its first-ever Ski Super Session at Palisades Tahoe, replacing the head-to-head bracket with a collaborative format that prioritizes creativity on natural terrain. Eight athletes were selected by an advisory council of legends including Chris Benchetler and Candide Thovex. Results are secret until the March 17 premiere on Red Bull TV. The finals will be in Valdez, Alaska April 14.

• The snowboard finals return to Revelstoke, BC from March 10–15, where 24 of the world's best snowboarders from Olympic medalists to backcountry film icons will compete in Montana Bowl on naturally enhanced terrain just outside the Revelstoke resort.

Why It Matters: Travis Rice's Natural Selection Tour continues to evolve as the most progressive competition format in freeride skiing and snowboarding. Adding skiing two years ago was a big move; shifting from brackets to Super Sessions is another. The Palisades-to-Valdez pipeline, combined with an advisory council of legends picking the field, is producing the most compelling freeride competition in the sport right now!

Business

📈 New hire, new direction at REI

🏢 REI Co-op has hired Kim Waldmann as its new chief commercial officer, effective March 9. Waldmann joins from Foot Locker, where she served as global chief customer officer, leading the company's transformation of customer experience across brand, digital, loyalty, and in-store touchpoints.

• Before Foot Locker, Waldmann was chief marketing and digital officer at Athleta, where she drove digital acceleration and customer growth during a period of expansion. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions at Sephora, including VP and general manager of Sephora.com, where she led record online growth.
• In this role, Waldmann will unite key elements of REI's commercial ecosystem across stores, digital, and member experiences.
• REI president and CEO Mary Beth Laughton said Waldmann "brings deep commercial expertise and a strong member-first mindset" and "understands how to connect strategy and execution across channels in ways that feel seamless and authentic to our members."

Why It Matters: REI has been navigating a turbulent stretch: leadership turnover, unionization battles, and a shifting outdoor retail landscape. Hiring a CCO with deep digital and omnichannel experience from Foot Locker, Athleta, and Sephora signals that REI is prioritizing the member experience overhaul it needs to stay competitive against direct-to-consumer brands and Amazon. The outdoor industry will be watching whether Waldmann can translate mainstream retail expertise into the co-op's unique culture. Please don't get rid of that return policy. Sincerely, everyone ever.

What else is going on

• Snowboarder sues Vail Resorts over eye injury at Keystone. California man Duncan McDonald filed a product liability lawsuit claiming his Oakley goggles and Salomon helmet were defectively designed after his right eye popped out of its socket during a face-first fall, resulting in orbital fractures and permanent vision loss.
• Lake Powell faces hydropower crisis with water levels at historic lows. The reservoir sits at just 26% capacity and could drop below the 3,490-foot threshold needed to generate electricity at Glen Canyon Dam by year's end, forcing officials to consider unprecedented cuts to water releases to prevent the loss of power generation for the first time in the dam's six-decade history.
• How to join search and rescue in your area.
• Survivors recall California's deadliest avalanche near Lake Tahoe.

📚 Trailhead Trivia

What is REI's annual Revenue?

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