Bob Wheaton

For forty years Bob Wheaton, born in 1952, was a positive and dynamic force at Deer Valley Resort where he orchestrated its ascension into one of the world’s premier ski destinations.

Wheaton started at the resort in 1979, working first as its maintenance manager, but climbed to its General Manager and Chief Operating Officer in 1986.

His leadership acumen was founded in his deep respect and appreciation of what he believed were the resort’s most valuable assets — its employees. They conveyed the sentiments to resort guests who in SKI Magazine reader surveys rated the venue among the top three ski resorts in North America 20 consecutive years and number one an unprecedented eight times.

Beneficiaries of his penchant for contributing his expertise to community and industry-related organizations included Ski Utah, the Intermountain Ski Areas Association, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, and the Utah Symphony and Opera.

He was inducted into the Utah Tourism Hall of Fame in 2011 and in 2014 received the S. J. (Joe) Quinney Award for Contributions to Skiing from the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library.

Wheaton retired from Deer Valley in 2019 after four decades with the resort.