The widow of a snowboarder who was "buried alive" while riding at Heavenly Mountain Resort has filed a suit against the mountain and its parent company, Vail Resorts. Wesley Whalen, 46, was riding a black diamond run at the Lake Tahoe resort when he sank into deep snow and was buried alive.
His wife, Chanel Whalen, filed the wrongful death lawsuit on January 24, 2025, calling her husband’s death “an unnecessary and preventable tragedy.” The suit alleges that despite record snowfall, Heavenly failed to increase ski patrol presence or properly warn riders about hazardous conditions, including tree wells and snow cave-ins.
While Whalen’s accident happened near a tree, his attorney, Mike Guasco, emphasized that this wasn’t a typical tree well incident. “It was a loose-powder incident with the risk of a cave-in,” he told the Placerville NewsWire.
According to the lawsuit, Whalen had stopped to catch his breath when an "unmarked tree well" collapsed beneath him. His helmet camera reportedly captured the moments as he struggled and suffocated. The complaint argues that Vail Resorts failed to address the dangers posed by deep snow following a massive storm that had dumped more than two feet in 24 hours—part of one of the snowiest winters in Tahoe’s history.
“Injuries from falls, collisions, and hitting obstacles are undoubtedly inherent risks in snowboarding,” the lawsuit states. “However, being swallowed by snow as if sinking in quicksand is not.” The complaint further claims that Heavenly had recently used explosives for avalanche control, loosening the snowpack and increasing the risk of collapses, yet failed to mitigate the resulting dangers.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 35 skiers and snowboarders died within resort boundaries in 2024. While most fatal incidents involve tree collisions or falls, snow immersion deaths—like Whalen’s—accounted for about 10% of in-bounds fatalities last season.
Whalen, a skilled and experienced rider, was visiting Tahoe from New York with a group from the U.S. Deaf Ski and Snowboard Association. His death, the lawsuit argues, could have been avoided with better warnings, more patrols, and increased safety measures.
Vail Resorts has not commented on the lawsuit.
About The Author
stash member Teton Gravity Research
It all began with a dream and a little cash scraped together from fishing in Alaska... Since 1995, we've been an action sports media company committed to fueling progression through our ground-breaking films (37 and counting) and online content.
Frisco Kid
February 15th, 2025
Cant ski the POW, in this case cement, don’t go.