Pro snowboarder Aaron Robinson dies in Chile
Aaron Robinson, a 24-year-old American professional snowboarder who collected his second North Face Masters Tour title earlier this year, lost his life in a fall while riding powder at Santa Teresita, a popular back-country area adjacent to the El Colorado
ski resort in Chile, on Tuesday, July 19.
Reportedly, the young snowboarder was snowboarding in the technically out-of-bound area, which is only accessible through one of the lift at the base of the El Colorado resort, when he fell and hit his head on exposed rocks. The force with which the American
pro snowboarder hit his head on the rocks was what reportedly claimed his life, though no further detail of the incident is yet available.
It was Arnau Fernandez, the marketing manager Valle Nevado, Chile, who confirmed Robinson’s death and gave the minor details of the way in which it occurred. He further confirmed that there was no avalanche at the time of the accident, completely ruling
out the possibility of the mentioned hazard contributing to the snowboarder’s death.
Less than 12 hours before he lost his life to the tragic accident, Robinson had shared a video on his Facebook page of a group of snowboarders riding powder at El Colorado. Being a passionate off-piste skier himself, he headed off to the location to ride
the backcountry snow, unaware of the fact that death awaited his arrival.
The 24-year-old from Whitefish, Montana, had earned a lot of respect within the snowboarding community because of his friendly personality and backcountry-riding prowess. He was always ready to join others for a session of powder-riding, something that had
become one of his biggest passions over the years.
During the big-mountain competitions, Robinson, or A-Rob as he was referred to during the North Face Masters Tour, wore a smile on his face that hardly ever faded.
Colin Wiseman, editor of Frequency: The Snowboarder’s Journal, remembered Robinson as, “One of the most talented young snowboarders on the planet. His confident, relaxed style in all terrain was a joy to watch. His outgoing, positive attitude was unsurpassed.
I had the good fortune of spending a fair bit of time on the road with him, and he brought energy and stoke that inspired the crew around him to make the most of each and every day, no matter the circumstances. I'm really going to miss him.”
Robinson now joins the likes of Josh Malay, Tristan Picot and Craig Kelly, among other snowboarding stars that have departed from the world, doing what they loved doing the most: snowboarding.
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