Lost on Wheaton Way ?

The other day, as I was driving down from Empire Pass, between Deer Valley and Park City, I noticed “Wheaton Way”, an unfamiliar street sign on the short, steep road connecting the old mine to Silver Lake, the upper section of Deer Valley resort. 

I thought to myself: “Bob Wheaton can’t be dead!” since streets are normally named after folks that are deceased, unless they’re elected officials who is no longer in office. I looked up on Wikipedia, no Bob Wheaton was listed, so in order to find him out, dead or alive, I intensified my search and could find nothing proving that he had indeed passed away. 

You see, Bob Wheaton used to be the general manager of Deer Valley Resort, until Alterra, the new owner of the resort, decided to remove him a few months later. Since the inception of the ski area, Bob had executed, to the letter, the vision and plan of its founder, Edgard Stern. 

He also deftly built a powerful image among the local politicians and business associations, to the point that when he was terminated, the Park City Area Lodging Association recommended that he be honored in some way.

Without missing a beat, our mayor and our Park City council members unanimously approved on December 20, 2018, four months after it was announced that he was leaving Deer Valley, to publicly name that portion of road after Bob Wheaton. 

While there’s is a “Stein Way” honoring the legendary Stein Eriksen who passed five years ago, there is not, to this date, one street to enshrine the name of Edgar Stern, the rightful, original founder of Deer Valley and its unique way of doing business. 

This goes a long way in showing that by cleverly cultivating his image with the most influential folks in the community, Bob Wheaton finally got a small street named after him without having to die for it. Good strategy!