Noah Salasnek, one of the most influential snowboarders in the history of the sport, has passed away after losing his battle with liver cancer. Salasnek had to seek expensive treatment for the disease and battled the ailment with all the force he threw at the slopes, where he inspired countless up-and-coming riders over the years.
Our own Matty Vanatta wrote a profile piece, documenting the Marin County native’s battle last summer: No one, and I reiterate no one, embraced the skate to snow mentality more iconically and progressively than Salasnek. A pro skateboarder for the legendary H-Street team in the 1980’s, Salasnek brought a fresh perspective and way of riding to the mountain that was obviously taken from his immense abilities on a skateboard.
He followed the contest scene, and could compete at the highest level, but his heart was in a free form of riding where he could express himself in the mountains. And he earned the respect of the sport’s most gifted players: “Noah was one of the first to bring skate style into snowboarding, and he eventually brought that same style into freeriding,” big mountain icon Jeremy Jones told Snowboarder magazine. “His first descent of Super Spines changed both big-mountain skiing and riding (in Alaska) and has hardly been matched today.”
Noah Salasnek was 47.
