R.I.P. Aaron Robinson

I first met Aaron "Arob" Robinson in April 2006 on trip with Steven Hamilton up to BC. We stopped at the Arlington bowl for a sesh on the way. We had showed up to a pretty heavy skate session as the only 2 on a bmx. Hamilton opted for his skate over bmx, making me the only one on a bike. The bowl was pretty new at the time so not that many skaters there were exactly psyched on bikes being there. I worked my way into the bowl's rotation and it turned into a great session, having a blast riding and making some new friends. One guy inparticular who was going faster, airing higher, looping the capsule, smiling, shouting, and showing stoke for some bike airs more then any other skater there was Aaron. We got to talking a bunch, connecting well on snowboarding, traveling, both being new to Seattle, and psych for life and shredding in general. After the sesh, we had a safety meeting in the dugouts of the ball field across the street. Since Steven and I were on our way to the border we had to get rid of our belongings, which ended up taking a of couple rounds. Freshly blazed we chilled in the dugout for a while chattin away mostly about going up to whistler and snowboarding in the northwest. We exchanged numbers and began hanging out that summer.


Arob lived between Seattle and a cabin out in Snoqualmie Pass for the first few years I was in Seattle. He was a great guy to have around and we often chilled, hit skateparks, and took a few camping trips together. Back in 2006, I was very new to backcountry snowboarding, in fact Aaron was the first person I ever followed to other side of the ropes at Alpental. It was unreal riding with him, he was so comfortable and just naturally belonged back there. He opened my eyes to how I would want to ride a snowboard. He was worlds ahead of me at sliding down mountains, but would always wait for me and share his knowledge of what he knew in order to help me out. In a sense he was my sensai with snowboarding, opening up a beautiful world to me that I continue to get more and more involved in as each year passes.


Arob has been a huge influence in my life since that time. I have always been so impressed at the life he was living. He was incredible, so much natural talent and enthusiasm for everything he was involved in. Whether it be snowboarding, skating, playing music, traveling, being happy, motivating a group to do something, he did it all so well. His energy was unreal, he always knew what he wanted and what needed to be done in order to get there. He's the most nomadic person I have ever met. For the past few years i'm not sure if was in any one location for more than a few months at a time. Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, BC, Alasksa, Hawaii, Chile, etc....the biggest free spirit i've ever known. He always had a smile on his face, and was always excited about whatever was happening.


I love you Arob, thanks for all the great times and everything you've shown me. The cascades won't be the same without you, but you'll be with everyone who loved you forever. You are seriously one of the best people who has ever lived, you were amazing at life and lived it to the fullest. Getting to share experiences with a guy like you is what makes life worth living. You're one of my hero's! I'll hold onto the energy and spirit I know from you for the rest of my days, and will ride Alpental for the legend of Arob!



























Aaron's life was taken last week in a fall resulting in severe head trauma while snowboarding down in Chile. He was 24.