Noah Gaffney

I am a 23-year-old skier from Tahoe City. I started skiing at two years old, and, as a youngster, I skied on the teams at Palisades Tahoe. I joined the Big Mountain team at 9 years old, and that set my trajectory as the skier I was going to be. I also began venturing into the backcountry with my father, Robb Gaffney. He instilled avalanche safety in me and taught me how to make smart decisions in the backcountry. My Dad became my main backcountry skiing partner and together we skied almost everything around Tahoe. By 15 years old, I had skied several major mountains in Tahoe National Forest, the Eastern Sierra, and had climbed and skied multiple 14,000 peaks throughout California. After exploring the backcountry for years with my Dad, I went to college at the University of California, Davis. While I was there, I was able to drive up to Tahoe every weekend so I could continue to pursue my passion for skiing. Throughout my years at college, I was able to still accomplish a lot on the slopes like skiing many of my dream lines at Palisades Tahoe and landing a triple backflip. After graduating in 2023, things took a turn for the worse with my Dad. He lost his 4 year-long battle with cancer. It’s been hard without my Dad around, but every time I’m in the mountains I think of him and ski in a way that would make him proud.