Huge loss for the Squaw community. Reading the Squallywood book has fundamentally changed the way I look at the mountain. Where before you see rocks and snow, you see possibilities. Even if I don't pursue a majority of those possibilities, I am a better skier for that. When year ago I wrote the unofficial guide to Squaw for then EpicSki, it was inspired by Squallywood.
I have bumped into Robb on the mountain many times over the years. One year his daughter Kate was in the same group on the ski team with my daughter. A few parents noticed that Kate has been missing quite a few days, and were told that she was "backcountry skiing with her dad", eliciting knowing nods and barely concealed jealousy. I remember seeing some dude straightening Sibo full speed with a large doll strapped to his behind. He tucked, making the doll sit upright. I was intrigued and caught up with the guy at the bottom, where of course I saw that it was Robb Gaffney, complete with a huge sheepish grin on his face. One nice morning another year I bumped into him on top of the Palisades where we exchanged some small talk; I remember him telling me something about a particularly gnarly line that his son Noah did a few days before.
Robb never had quite the fame and name recognition of most of the professional skiers at Squaw, simply because, even though he was as skilled, as fearless, and as daring of a skier as any of them, he made a wiser choice early on to become a doctor and keep skiing as a passion. Because of that, Robb was a special kind of celebrity at Squaw Valley, quiet and very unassuming, but still magnetic. Even though everybody thinks about his goofy side, Squallywood also showed how methodically and cerebrally he approached skiing difficult lines.
I hope the resort will name a feature after Robb (naming a trail would almost feel wrong!). His spirit will always be there and also live in every dog-eared copy of Squallywood that resides in every Truckee ski lease house where it inspires the residents and delights the visitors alike. Thank you Robb!