Christopher Elliott Whiting's Obituary
Christopher Elliott Whiting of Liberty, Utah passed away Thursday morning, January 26th, after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Born in Los Angeles February 10, 1962 to Judy and John Whiting, Chris had a sense of adventure, playfulness, and love of people. His family recognized that free spirit early on and helped to foster his love of the outdoors - together they bodysurfed the California beaches and skied or hiked in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He had a gusto for life that few people ever see or experience.
After working a season at Alta then attending college, Chris wanted to explore the world. He helped build a replica Viking ship in Denmark and surfed in Portugal and Indonesia. The mountains and the ocean finally lured him back to Southern California, where he could surf in the morning, ski in the afternoon, and then work at night. The mountains are where he met his wife, Ché, and they married at the top of Kratka Ridge in October 1994. They lived for fifteen years on a South Pasadena hilltop overlooking Los Angeles before ultimately settling in the beautiful Utah mountain valley, Ogden Valley.
Chris spent the next fifteen years exploring every corner of his beloved valley and the surrounding mountains. He was part of the fabric of this community – whether managing the “Wolf Mountain" lifts, crafting skis at DPS, helping friends with odd jobs, bartending at events, catering at the original Harley and Bucks or doing his dream job as greenskeeper at Wolf Creek. His favorite times on the golf course were dawn and dusk, where he could listen to the birds sing and watch the animals forage for food. Powder Mountain was his mountain, where he would ski all day every day and one was lucky to have a “Whiting sighting” because he was so elusive.
His love of all things green extended to his yard, where he created a whimsical paradise of funny signs, goofy statues, and beautiful gardens – his sunflowers were legendary. Chris found his well-loved treasures on his “junking” expeditions to his favorite thrift stores. His preferred “non” activity was to hang out on his back porch in front of a bonfire and watch the weather. He loved to cook and garden, while Ché tackled the plumbing and electrical. It was a perfect match.
Every day was beautiful for Chris, even while fighting cancer. He was able to breathe deeply and find something amazing about each day, no matter how sick he felt. He found himself surrounded by other cancer patients who seemed much worse off than he felt, and decided to not complain, because he “wasn’t that bad.” At first he didn’t want to see anyone or accept help in any way, however, the community had other ideas and what followed was an outpouring of love that Chris ultimately embraced. His doctors and nurses and care teams loved him, loved his positive attitude about beating cancer, as he planned his favorite activities to look forward to. This was the driving force that kept him alive for so long.
After multiple chemotherapy treatments, he pushed himself in the spring of 2022 to cross country ski in a pasture behind his home, then skied the Village lift at Powder Mountain before the end of the season, started to hike a bit and walk on the golf course, picked up a paddle board and went to the lake daily in the summer. He wanted to do something he loved every day, if he was able, and that gave him the energy and strength to keep going. Folks in the community started to see him out and about and encouraged him to keep up the fight! He lived to ski, golf, travel, paddle board, surf, every day, always making the plan that kept him going along with his treatments to eradicate this cancer. Through the unfailing support of his wife, friends and family, Chris was able to sky dive, play dozens of rounds of day (and night) golf, travel cross country on a train one way and driving back with his wife the other way, (something he had never done before,) paddle board and somehow sneak in 30 days of powder skiing before the slopes opened. He was on the first chair at Powder Mountain on opening day! His last adventure was a surf trip to Mexico with three close friends, which was magical.
Once home from Mexico and back in treatment, Chris began to lose the fight. After a 9 day hospital stay, he came home and passed peacefully with his wife and special cat, Bisou, both by his side, as the sun was coming up over the mountain and the light was coming through the room.
He is survived by his loving and heartbroken wife, Ché Zuro, his soul-cat Bisou, his parents John and Judy, his sister, Dawn Habgood, nieces and nephews, friends from all around the world, and the family that he chose here in Ogden Valley; people that trusted him, listened to him and loved him.
A celebration of Chris’s life will be planned when the snow melts. “Chris’ Last Run” at Powder Mountain was a special, early celebration of that life. A special thanks to Addie Jensen for the idea, which was brought to fruition by the Powder Mountain family. As mentioned during the small ceremony, if this had been for someone else, Chris Whiting would have hiked up, said a quick hello, and then disappeared. Thank you to all of his loving friends who are family. He loved you so much. He loved the 745.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Powder Mountain Avalanche Dogs via Venmo to @C-Kuhnly to help with the health, maintenance and training of the canines who work with the ski patrol in rescue on the mountain. If you prefer to donate a different way, please send a message to [email protected] and put Powder Mtn Avi Dogs in the subject, and the family will help.
Condolences can be sent to the family at www.premierfuneral.com.
“Fare thee well now
Let your life proceed by it’s own design
Nothing to tell now
Let the words be yours, I’m done with mine.” -John Barlow and Bob Weir
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