The devastated widow of a snowboarder found ‘buried alive’ at a California ski resort has filed a scathing lawsuit against the mountain getaway.
Wesley Whalen, 46, a deaf snowboarder from New York, died in March 2023 after he ‘slowly, but consistently’ sunk into a snowpack at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, according to a lawsuit filed by his widow, 35-year-old Chanel Whalen.
The widower has since claimed that her husband’s death was an ‘unnecessary and preventable tragedy.’
The lawsuit, filed on January 24, now seeks damages for negligence, wrongful death, the significant emotional and mental trauma endured by Whalen and the void left in the life of his widow.
According to the complaint submitted to El Dorado County, Whalen was a ‘skilled and experienced snowboarder’ and was riding a black diamond trail at the time of his death.
While skiing well-within the bounds of the run, the ‘skilled’ boarder stopped off to the side of the trail ‘to catch his breath’ when he started to sink.
‘Due to the way the snowpack was, the powder was deceptively loose,’ the court filing said of the mountain’s conditions.
In the week leading up to the New York-native’s ill-fated trip, the mountain resort was rocked by ‘near continuous snow, the likes of which had not been seen in the Tahoe region in years,’ the lawsuit said.
Wesley Whalen (left), 46, a deaf snowboarder from New York, died in March 2023 after he ‘slowly, but consistently’ sunk into a snowpack at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, according to a lawsuit filed by his widow, 35-year-old Chanel Whalen (right)
In the week leading up to the New York-native’s ill-fated trip, the mountain resort was rocked by ‘near continuous snow, the likes of which had not been seen in the Tahoe region in years,’ the lawsuit said. Pictured: A skier at Heavenly Mountain works his way down an icy, mogul-filled run
The day before Whalen’s passing, the same storm dropped another near two feet of ‘fresh powder’ in just 24 hours on top of the already snow-covered mountain.
Snow accumulation of this nature can result in increased avalanche danger, poor visibility due to whiteout conditions, unstable snowpack, difficulty navigating terrain, and increased risk of falls due to deep, soft snow.
Yet, despite knowing the powder collapse risk had greatly increased, the resort failed to add ski patrols, the lawsuit claims, calling the rescue efforts ‘nonexistent, insufficient, inadequate, and poor.’
The filing alleges, ‘Due to the blasting, the top layer of the snowpack appeared solid, with little in the way of visible valleys, multiple small changes in height, or other signs that typically accompany particularly loose snowpack.’
The 46-year-old experienced snowboarder was wearing a GoPro style camera at the time, and a video retrieved from the body camera shows snow collapsing on top of him and filling in the hole created by him sinking.
However, Whalen ran out of oxygen and was deceased by the time he was found by patrol.
He ‘sunk into snow, as snow slowly covered him, as it became darker, as he was being buried alive, and as he slowly ran out of breath,’ according to the lawsuit.
‘By the time he was found,’ the lawsuit said, ‘Wesley was dead.’
The complaint was made against Heavenly’s parent company, Vail Resorts, and cites ‘insufficient ski patrol coverage’ and ‘nonexistent, insufficient, inadequate, and poor’ rescue efforts.
The scathing suit also noted that despite the ‘increased the risk of powder collapse’ due to the storm, the resort did not schedule additional ski patrollers to ‘keep an eye out for seeming holes or snow moving towards a center of a circle.’
The scathing suit also noted that despite the ‘increased the risk of powder collapse’ due to the storm, the resort did not schedule additional ski patrollers to ‘keep an eye out for seeming holes or snow moving towards a center of a circle’
Whalen’s death came after he and his wife (pictured), who’s represented by attorneys Michael Guasco and Nicholas Adamucci, tried ‘for an extended period of time’ to have children, undergoing fertility treatment
The claim also alleges that there was an ‘avalanche mitigation’ performed that morning which ‘increased the risk of a sink in’
The claim also alleges that there was an ‘avalanche mitigation’ performed that morning, which ‘increased the risk of a sink in.’
‘Both key signs of sink in risks,’ and ultimately could have seen Whalen and prevented his death, Chanel’s legal team claimed in the suit.
Additionally, the complaint asserts that ‘the risk of sink in is not inherent to skiing or snowboarding.’
‘Injuries from falls, colliding with other individuals on the mountain, and hitting obstacles such as trees are undoubtedly inherent. However, being swallowed by snow as if sinking in quicksand is not intrinsic in snowboarding,’ the suit reads.
The filing also notes that based on information provided by Heavenly, Whalen had been in a tree well – a hidden hole or depression that forms around the base of a tree – but that the resort had not actually provided warnings about the dangers of tree wells to guests following the storm.
Whalen’s death came after he and his wife, who’s represented by attorneys Michael Guasco and Nicholas Adamucci, tried ‘for an extended period of time’ to have children, undergoing fertility treatment.
They planned to try again after taking a break, the lawsuit said.
Chanel ‘now will never have the opportunity to raise a child with a loving, dedicated, passionate, and wonderful partner,’ according to the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
Whalen was ‘an active member of the deaf community’ and was at Heavenly as part of a group affiliated with the US Deaf Ski and Snowboard Association, the court filing said.
Vail Resorts declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Whalen’s tragic passing came just around the same time as another ‘experienced snowboarder,’ Ian Steger, of Ferndale, went viral after being found buried alive in heavy snow.
A skier stumbled upon a snowboarder buried in a tree well of snow in Washington State and was able to dig them out in a remarkable rescue caught on video
Steger was saved by chance after skier Francis Zuber spotted his board poking out of the snow in an astonishing clip that has since gone viral.
Viewers were left impressed by Steger’s calm response to having his life saved as he is heard telling Zuber: ‘Thanks for that, man.’
Experts have said that Steger would have died had he not been uncovered by Zuber.
‘One of the things that I was thinking about while I was down there was like, wow, like, I’m going to die down here,’ Steger said.
‘And I’m not going to be able to, you know, tell my fiancé how much I love her.’
The snowboarder was trapped in a tree well in the Mt. Baker Ski Area in Washington on March 3, 2023.
Zuber was skiing in the same part when he started to catch himself in deep powder.
In the video clip, he is seen quickly saving himself before he spots a snowboard sticking out of the deep snow.
He quickly removed his skis so that he could maneuver over to the tree well and attempt to rescue the snowboarder.
Zuber dug with his hands, exclaiming: ‘Hold on, I’m coming!’
He eventually dug out enough of the snowboarder that he could see his head and goggles as his arm slowly waved.
He’s able to get himself out but then he quickly puts the brakes on before departing when he sees a snowboard sticking out of the deep snow
Eventually, he was able to reach the snowboarder’s face and could hear the buried man take a deep breath.
He said: ‘Thank you,’ to which Zuber replied: ‘Yeah, no problem.’
He recounted the entire experience in an Instagram post.
The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service recommends those skiing or snowboarding always go with a partner when tree wells are present for everyone’s safety.
