Plant a Seed: Project honors late snowboard legend A-Rob's mission of snowboarding for all

Aaron Robinson would always say he wanted every kid to be able to experience snowboarding — to feel the snow between their feet and the wind in their face.

After Aaron passed away in a tragic snowboarding accident in Chile 11 years ago his mother Pam Robinson made it her mission to carry out that aspiration for Aaron. She formed the nonprofit titled Plant a Seed Project which aimed to help underprivileged kids learn to snowboard through coaching and community.

Today, more than a decade later, Pam is still operating the program and the impact continues to grow larger every year. She says in its first year, the winter following her son Aaron’s death, 12 kids were sponsored by the Plant a Seed Project. In the season that just wrapped up in March this year, 31 kids were given the opportunity to experience snowboarding.

Though Pam says she had no idea at the time of starting the program how it would grow or how long she would operate it, she continues to do it for Aaron.

“He wanted every kid to experience (snowboarding), he wanted every kid to live that,” Pam said. “So that stuck with me and that’s why I do this — because Aaron wanted every kid to do this.”

When the Robinson family — Pam, her husband Jeff and their other two sons — lost Aaron starting this program was a way to focus on something good rather than the devastating loss. And to this day Pam runs the nonprofit for her son, as his legacy inspires her to keep the program going.

“Aaron — it helps me keep Aaron alive,” she said of the project.

The Plant a Seed Project helps give kids who may not easily have the opportunity to snowboard the chance to experience it. Pam secures $200 donations from donors that would like to sponsor a kid each season. That money pays for their season pass.

Then the program supplies gear for the kids and takes them up to Whitefish Mountain Resort each week to snowboard via the SNOW Bus. The new snowboarders have coaches and are provided a hot meal in the Base Lodge. The program is for kids around 8-12 years old.

Pam says Plant a Seed Project gives kids, or her “seeds” as she calls them, a community and support as they learn a potentially life-changing sport. She teaches them good manners and the right mountain etiquette. More than learning to snowboard they get an outlet, a time when their worries can be wiped away.

“(A kid in the program) literally told me that snowboarding saved her life…” Pam recalled. “Because with the crew, you have friends, they encourage you – that's what we need.”

“You need to channel these kids’ energy in the right spot. And when they’re snowboarding they don’t have a care in the world,” she added.

The program is in part funded by the individual sponsors, but also she gets donations from businesses near and far. Stumptown Snowboards gives the project a deal on new gear and many businesses in Whitefish have been supportive of her family even since before Aaron passed away.

Every year the main fundraising event is the Smash Life Banked Slalom at Lost Trail Ski Area. The event sells out within minutes year after year, and raises thousands of dollars so Pam can continue the Plant a Seed program.

Pam keeps Aaron’s legacy alive through the program. She says Aaron, or A-Rob as he is fondly called by those close to him, was fun-loving and always had a smile on his face.

“Everybody will say they miss his smile,” she says. “He was the most positive human on the planet.”

A-Rob lived life to the fullest and anything he wanted in life he would manifest it and do whatever it took to get there. He was creative and athletic.

Aaron died in a snowboarding accident in Chile at the age of 24. He was a professional snowboarder and filming a movie with K2 Snowboards when he died. He grew up in Whitefish and in addition to snowboarding loved skateboarding, soccer, baseball and music; he was always up for an adventure.

Today Pam says when she sees kids with stickers on their helmets that say, “I Ride for A-Rob,” it reminds her of the impact he had when he was alive and continues to have now, even more than a decade after he passed.

Plant a Seed Project keeps Aaron’s spirit alive in the town of Whitefish. The positivity, the inclusivity and the pure joy of snowboarding are all the things Aaron wished to pass on to every kid, according to Pam. And the project continues to do that in his honor.

Though the challenges of funding the program and the logistics of operating it can be a challenge, Pam expressed she plans to continue to run it for many years to come.

All for A-Rob and the kids his memory continues to influence.

“When you’re snowboarding... everything goes out the window and you just enjoy the moment,” Pam said. “And that’s what we’re here for. You never know what tomorrow will bring. You have to live for today.”