Industry News
Well known Aspen skier Sam Coffey died Monday, according to friends who were close to him. He was 29.
While on holiday in Mexico last week, Coffey suffered a stroke and spent the next few days in and out of a coma, longtime friend and Aspen Olympian Wiley Maple wrote in a text message Monday night, reports the Aspen Times. Coffey suffered additional strokes during that time and passed away Monday morning, Maple said.
Coffey, who grew up in Snowmass Village, was a 2008 graduate of Aspen High School and was part of the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club. He went on to become an All-American ski racer at the University of New Hampshire.
He was one of the founders of the Aspen “ski gang” that called itself “The Freaks”.
Maple, a current World Cup ski racer and 2018 Olympian, had been with Coffey in Mexico only a few days before the incident.
“We were having a blast surfing and just living that slow, Mexican life,” Maple wrote via text Monday night. “From what I understand he just woke up one morning not feeling well — took a nap then started his stretching warm-up for a surf session and collapsed. They rushed him to the hospital and thought the worst was over.”
Coffey was well known in the ski industry, both through his work in public relations and through his skills on the snow. Freeskier Magazine paid their respects to him in an Instagram post last night:
We’re deeply saddened to report that our close friend, Sam Coffey, has passed away. Everyone that knew Sam would agree that he was one of the kindest people on the face of the Earth, and loved skiing and his hometown of Aspen, Colorado, more than anything.
