Replying to Josh Malay, RIP

Local pro snowboarder Josh Malay's health fading

By Randy Wyrick/Daily Staff Writer
February 28, 2004


A popular local professional snowboarder's brain has stopped functioning, stemming from an injury while riding in Spain.

Josh Malay, 23, of Avon suffered a head injury while riding in the Spanish Pyrenees. The incident occurred while he was riding for a story to appear in Transworld Snowboarding. He had left Avon last Tuesday.

Details were not clear at deadline Saturday night regarding the incident. Some of his family members, friends and business associates were on their way to Spain to help deal with the tragedy.

Malay moved to Avon six years ago to pursue his dream of becoming a professional snowboarder. He graduated a semester early from Prior Lake High School in Prior Lake, Minn., and made his way to Colorado.

He lived in the Vail Valley for four and a half years.

During that time, he came to be one of Colorado's most accomplished and renowned snow riders. His professional riding exploits earned him the praise and admiration of several of his peers and colleagues.

He was sponsored by The Other Side Snowboard Shop in Beaver Creek, Oakley, Nixon, grenade, Santa Cruz and Vail.

Malay was applauded for not only his snowboarding expertise, but more importantly, friends said for being such a great guy.

He recently established himself as one of the top names in the sport. Much of that new-found fame resulted from a cover photo that appeared on Snowboarder magazine. In the photo, Malay is performing a stunt sliding down a fire escape in the abandoned mining town of Gilman.

RIP Josh, everybody will miss you

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