Freeskiing icon Robb Gaffney died on September 22, four years after being diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow cancer. He died at his home in Tahoe City, California, surrounded by his family. He was 52.
In his final days, Gaffney’s brother Scott, a skiing legend in his own right and a longtime filmmaker with MSP Films, wrote on his patient journal on CaringBridge, “He’s given everything he has and then some; sadly, cancer doesn’t care … We aren’t ready but we’re all here, in place, for that final, painful goodbye.”
Gaffney was first diagnosed with myelodysplastic disorder—which often leads to leukemia—in September 2019. He underwent years of treatment, including stem cell transplants, but the cancer eventually progressed to acute myeloid leukemia. In June 2022, his doctors identified a recurrence. Over those years, Gaffney still got out to adventure whenever his body allowed, climbing mountains with his kids, Noah and Kate (both in their 20s), jumping into waterfalls, and ice skating on frozen alpine lakes, taking advantage of every day he had.
He was transparent about his battle with cancer in the hopes that it might help others, and at the time of his death, Gaffney was at work on a book about his experience fighting cancer. “The outdoors has provided the best therapy by far,” he wrote on CaringBridge. “I let my friends and family know I need no reassurance. And to the backcountry skiers in my life, I say I’m way ahead on the skintrack and happy to be there for anyone as they work their way up.”