Vail Resorts has a new CEO. And it’s a familiar face for the company.

The ski resort company based in Broomfield announced its former CEO Rob Katz who spearheaded the launch of the Epic Pass will run the company again, according to a news release Tuesday.

Katz stayed on at Vail Resorts as the executive chairperson of the board after handing the reigns in 2021 to Kirsten Lynch, who drew calls from a company shareholder for her to be fired after ski patrollers in Utah went on strike and concerns that Vail Resorts was falling behind in the ski “pass wars.”

Lynch stepped down as CEO and director of the board, Vail Resorts said, adding she’ll stay on in an advisory role to help with the transition.

“As Vail Resorts continues to execute its strategic priorities and transformational initiatives, the Board believes now is the right time for this leadership transition,” said Bruce Sewell, the board’s lead independent director in a news release.

Sewell said Katz’ leadership in the last decade helped Vail Resorts during “times of industry stagnation and challenging macro environments.”

Katz, 58, was the CEO of Vail Resorts for nearly 16 years between 2006 and 2021. He began working with the company in 1991 and joined the board in 1996. Before that, he worked at Apollo Management L.P., a private equity investment firm.

Katz was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame last year and credited for leading the company when it launched the Epic Pass in 2008, the season pass that revolutionized the ski industry but has faced increasing competition from Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass.

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Last January, Vail Resorts shareholder Late Apex Partners wrote a letter to the company’s board of directors asking them to fire several executives including Lynch and Katz, saying the former CEO should preserve his legacy by leaving and his role as executive chairperson was a “hindrance” to the company’s growth.

In a letter to employees Tuesday, Katz said his goal during his second term as CEO is to align stakeholders together to grow the company.

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He added he expects not all stakeholders will “agree with everything we do.”

“And while that is not always comfortable, it is part of the responsibility of being a leader in an industry with such passionate people,” Katz wrote. “And it’s one of the things I look forward to the most; taking all that energy, inside and outside our company, and translating it into growth.”