We report on an erbium cascade laser in a fluorozirconate fiber. Lasing on the transition4I11/2→4I13/2at 2.71 &mgr;m is supported by colasing on the transition4S3/2→4I9/2at 1.72 &mgr;m. This recycles the excitation that is lost via excited‐state absorption and avoids the saturation of the output power. Threshold at 2.71 &mgr;m is 33 mW launched pump power at 791 nm. The measured slope efficiency of 22.6% is relatively close to the 29.1% stokes‐efficiency limit. An output power of 158 mW is obtained, limited only by the 1.43 W power available from the Ti: sapphire pump laser. Output power is 15 and slope efficiency 2.5 times higher than reported in previous publications. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.