Sam Coffey, a beloved Aspen skier and our dear friend, died Monday, May 20, after suffering a series of strokes on a surf trip in Mexico. He was 29 years old.

I first met Sam on the dance floor at Scissor Bill’s in Big Sky, Montana, during our 16th Annual Powder Week ski test. I was new to the POWDER staff and the ski industry at large—the opposite of Sam who had quickly made a name for himself in the ski industry when he started working with Backbone Media and clients like Salomon.

Photo Credit: Matt Power

In the years that I knew him, I learned the dance floor was not an uncommon place to find Sam, often still in his ski boots, top buttons of his flannel undone, beer bottle to his lips, his other arm raised and pulsing to the beat of the music. Wherever you found Sam, his presence was felt and celebrated, and it was always a clear indicator you were in the right place.

If Sam was involved, it was understood everyone would have a good time. We knew we would ski harder and faster and longer than we thought we could; we would burn the candle at both ends and then get up again in the morning to do it all over again with Sam leading the charge.

Photo Credit: Matt Power

Last fall, I called Sam to tell him I was planning to move to Aspen for the winter. His reaction made me feel as if it was the best news he’d heard all year. The next day he sent me a photo of the rental listings in the Aspen Times. “We have to get you here,” he said. I made it, and every time we skied together this winter or passed each other in town, Sam made me feel like I mattered. That’s how Sam made everyone feel.

To walk down a street with him, or stand with him in a lift line, or saddle up at the bar next to him was to witness his open arms, unconditional love, and acceptance for everyone who knew him. And it seems like everyone knew Sam.

Photo Credit: Matt Power

When I heard the news of his passing this week, my first thought was of his mom Cathy, and his younger sister JoJo who had already lost their husband and father, Joe Coffey, to a 10-year fight with melanoma just over a year ago. And then my thoughts expanded to the seemingly infinite number of friends and skiers who would be grieving his sudden absence from their lives.

The magnitude of his impact, both during his life and in his death, is overwhelming. Coffey was a 2008 graduate of Aspen High School where he made his mark on the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club and went on to become an All-American ski racer at the University of New Hampshire.

Photo Credit: Matt Power

More recently, he spent his time back home in Aspen, working as a river guide in the summers and doing PR for Aspen-based apparel brand Strafe. This past winter, he worked as a ski technician on the World Cup for his close friend Wiley Maple, a current World Cup ski racer and Olympian.

The two of them spent the winter skiing some of the most iconic terrain and courses in North America and Europe. And from little moving squares on our screens, the rest of us got to see glimpses of the highlights.

Photo Credit: Matt Power

But unlike so much of what we view through the lens of social media today, what Sam shared was real: the unmatchable joy of friends on a powder day; the fear and adrenaline at the top of a once-in-a-lifetime line in Chamonix; the perfection of a cold beer on the gondola; the disappointment of a race not won; the heartache of a skier’s life ended too soon.

The way Sam lived was authentic, punctuated with his unforgettable smile and legendary mustache. We will remember him for being one of the best goddamn skiers we know, and more importantly for his kindness and acceptance, the joy he found in the people he loved, and for being a living reminder of everything that is good about skiing.

We’ll be seeing you, Sam. We love you.