Lifelong skier who helped revitalize struggling Idaho ski resort ‘died suddenly’
Jon Reveal, the former president of Tamarack Resort who helped revitalize the struggling ski area, died unexpectedly last week, resort officials said. He was 77.
Reveal took over as head of the Donnelly resort in 2018 when it was bought by a newly formed partnership, Tamarack Resort Holdings. He helped guide the ski area, which had sat half-finished for a decade, as it resumed construction on its Village base area, reinstalled repossessed ski lifts and began planning a massive expansion.
“Jon was a friend to all who crossed his path,” Tamarack officials said in a news release. “The joy and passion he had for skiing and recreating in the mountains was contagious.”
In 2020, Reveal stepped down as president. He became Tamarack’s director of skiing, and the resort named its ski school after him later that year.
Reveal grew up skiing mountains in California, according to his Tamarack online biography. He also spent time training in France, where he met filmmaker Warren Miller. Reveal appeared in 15 of Miller’s skiing films.
Prior to joining Tamarack, Reveal had worked in management at several other ski resorts, including Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Aspen Skiing Company and the Yellowstone Club. Reveal enjoyed mountain biking, hiking and climbing in addition to skiing. In 1983, he summited Mt. Everest in an expedition without Sherpa guides or oxygen supplies.
The details of Reveal’s death weren’t immediately clear. Tamarack officials said only that he “died suddenly” at the resort on Feb. 24. Plans for a memorial will be made public at a later date, but the resort honored Reveal on Saturday by ringing the ski school bell three times, holding a moment of silence and setting off a salute of six explosive charges at the summit of the mountain.
Reveal’s wife, Kim Waltrip, requested donations be made for the ski school’s scholarship program in lieu of flowers. He is survived by two sons, one stepson and four grandchildren.
