PHOTOS: AVSC hosts alumni barbecue as Sam Coffey Memorial Award recipient named

News | Jul 4, 2025

Austin Colbert

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**Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill talks during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club's alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.**
*Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times*

With Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill as the special surprise guest, the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club on Wednesday hosted an alumni barbecue at its Aspen clubhouse. The highlight was the announcement of this year’s Sam Coffey Memorial Award, which went to Luka Smalls, a soon-to-be senior at Aspen High School.

“This youngster is always smiling, cracking jokes, working harder than anyone, and is always up for about anything,” said Mill, a two-time Olympian and accomplished fisherman. “You’d be an extremely proud parent to have this kid as your son, and I know they are.”

Mill is a close family friend of the Smalls. Luka’s father is Ryan Smalls, the outgoing AVSC board president. It was fitting in that way to have Mills on hand to give Luka his award.

“This is an incredible honor and probably the best thing I could ever be awarded with,” Luka Smalls said. “I never got the chance to really know Sam, but through this award I feel I can continue his incredible legacy, and I can’t think this club enough for providing me the ability to dream big. It’s incredible to be in this community.”

The memorial award is named after Sam Coffey, a beloved Aspen native and skier who grew up with the ski club. A two-time All-American ski racer at the University of New Hampshire, Coffey also briefly served as the ski technician on the World Cup circuit for his childhood best friend, Aspen Olympian Wiley Maple, who was at the barbecue on Wednesday and also gave a short speech.

Coffey abruptly died in May 2019 after suffering multiple strokes while vacationing near Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He was 29. This award was established almost immediately following his death alongside the Samuel Ryan Coffey Memorial Fund. According to the AVSC website, “the fund was established to support FIS-level Alpine athletes seeking summer training or extracurricular expeditions into the mountains Sam loved.”

Past winners include Tanner Perkins (2020), Jake Morgan (2021), Chase Kelly (2022), Asher Weinberg (2023), and Parker Kendrick (2024).

“It all started at AVSC, a spectacular place to be, when Sam was in kindergarten through senior year in high school,” Sam Coffey’s mother, Cathy Coffey, told the crowd. Sam’s sister, JoJo Coffey, was also present. “He spent 13 years here at AVSC training downhill and super-G with extraordinary coaches and parents and volunteers, and we know the same scenario is still going on at this special club.”

The event also served as a sendoff of sorts for outgoing AVSC board president Ryan Smalls, who stepped into the role in 2022. AVSC alumna and current board member Beth Hoff Blackmer will take over as president by the end of the summer. She is also serving as interim director following the recent resignation of Dave Baugh. A search continues for a new executive director.

From left, outgoing AVSC board president Ryan Smalls, his son Luka Smalls, and Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill pose for a photo during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.

Cathy Coffey, right, the mother of the late Sam Coffey, gets a hug from Aspen ski racer Wiley Maple while talking about her son during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen. Sam’s sister, JoJo Coffey, is at left. Maple and Sam were childhood best friends.

Incoming AVSC board president Beth Hoff Blackmer, right, who is also the club’s interim director, talks during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.

“I am very excited to be your next board president here, but this person next to me has given decades of his life to the club,” Hoff Blackmer said, with a nod toward her predecessor. “Ryan Smalls deserves a standing ovation.”

While AVSC has certainly had alumni opportunities in the past, this barbecue was considered a first, a passion project of Hoff Blackmer’s in recent weeks. They hope to grow the gathering each year and bring in even more alumni.

Although, this year’s guest list included many high-profile names with AVSC connections, such as Olympic cross-country skier Simi Hamilton, big mountain skiing icon Chris Davenport, and current U.S. halfpipe ski team member Hanna Faulhaber, among many others.

In his speech, Ryan Smalls called the club the “greatest creator of community” in the Roaring Fork Valley since its founding in 1937.

“It’s really to celebrate the one thing we all have in common, and that’s that this club raised us,” Ryan Smalls said of the purpose of the alumni barbecue. “When I look around here, I see friends, I see familiar faces, I see coaches, and, essentially, we are one big family. And we got to act like a family.”

acolbert@aspentimes.com

U.S. ski team coach and Aspen native Johno McBride, right, hugs award recipient Luka Smalls during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
From left, Ryan Smalls, Luka Smalls, and Andy Mill pose for a photo during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Scholarship recipient Luka Smalls, center in blue, poses with friends, family, and coaches during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen’s Simi Hamilton, a retired Olympic cross-country skier, chats with guests while holding his youngest child during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen Olympic skier Wiley Maple, left, reacts to Lorna Pedersen-Petersen during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
From left, AVSC board president Ryan Smalls, ski racing legend Andy Mill, and U.S. national team ski coach Johno McBride stop for a photo during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Olympic cross-country skier Sophie Caldwell Hamilton, who is married to Aspen Olympian Simi Hamilton, holds her youngest child during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
AVSC ski coach Jack Kirby, left, talks to young skier Luka Smalls during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Outgoing AVSC board president Ryan Smalls talks to guests during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
JoJo Coffey, left, listens as her mother, Cathy Coffey, talks of the late Sam Coffey, JoJo’s brother, during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill gets ready to talk during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen big mountain skier and announcer Chris Davenport chats with guests during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
AVSC board member Lorna Pedersen-Petersen introduces ski legend Andy Mill during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill talks during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Cathy Coffey, right, the mother of the late Sam Coffey, gets a hug from Aspen ski racer Wiley Maple while talking about her son during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen. Sam’s sister, JoJo Coffey, is at left. Maple and Sam were childhood best friends.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Cathy Coffey, right, the mother of the late Sam Coffey, talks about her son during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen. Sam’s sister, JoJo Coffey, is at left.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Incoming AVSC board president Beth Hoff Blackmer, right, who is also the club’s interim director, talks during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Outgoing AVSC board president Ryan Smalls, left, listens to incoming board president Beth Hoff Blackmer talk during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill talks during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen Olympic ski racer Wiley Maple talks about his late friend Sam Coffey during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill, back, hugs award recipient Luka Smalls, who is a close family friend, during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
From left, outgoing AVSC board president Ryan Smalls, his son Luka Smalls, and Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill pose for a photo during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen ski racing legend Andy Mill talks during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Ski coach and Olympian Casey Puckett holds up a pair of skis once used by Sam Coffey, which will be used as a trophy of sorts for winner’s of a scholarship named after Coffey — this year awarded to Luka Smalls, at right — during the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club’s alumni barbecue on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at the clubhouse in Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times