Jackie Levy accepts her award at the
2011 Bunny Bertram Memorial Masters
Sheppard races GS
at the 2011 Skotch
Cup at Sun Valley.
Meet the New Masters
A CITY SLICKER, AN OBSESSED DAD AND A BULGARIAN-BORN HOLLYWOOD
ACTOR ARE JUST A FEW OF THE REGIONS’ FAST ROOKIES BY BILL MCCOLLOM
Jackie Levy
Class 1, East
To say that Jackie Levy is on the go would be an understatement.
She’s on the dead run. It’s not easy keeping up with a full-time job
in New York City, graduate school in New Jersey, and a serious ski
racing habit in New England.
But Levy manages to calmly keep all her balls in the air. “Oh yes,
I’m busy,” says the 24-year-old Levy, “but that’s all I know.”
Levy works for the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which is responsible for investigating complaints against the New York City
police force. After clocking out from her day job, she hops on a train
to attend law school at the Newark campus of Rutgers University,
where she is halfway through her second year of studies. And Fridays can’t come soon enough, for several reasons.
“I raced in one race last year at Suicide Six and decided to make
the commitment to race as much as possible this year,” says Levy.
“I just like skiing fast and having the trail and the course to yourself.
It’s such an adrenaline rush.”
Levy may be new to the masters circuit, but she’s not new to ski
racing, despite growing up in New Jersey. “I learned to ski in the
Poconos and then started going to Okemo when I was about 6,”
says Levy.
The love affair started with the Okemo SKIwee Program and then
escalated to J3s, when Levy spent a winter term at the Okemo
Mountain School. She was able to attend for only one year, but by
her second year with the J3s, she made the state championships.
Academics, geography, and expense conspired against Levy during her high school years, but the opportunity to get back to ski racing presented itself at a college with no ski team — Wellesley.
“I started the ski team,” says Levy. “I was by myself that first year
in USCSA races, but by my senior year, we had a full team of four
traveling to all the races.”
After graduation, Levy coached the team while also working at the
Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, and soon discovered masters
racing.
“We had some college races at Pico at the same time there was
a masters race,” says Levy. “I was excited about getting back into
racing, so I did some research, and started again at Suicide Six last
year.”
Now it’s full time for Levy, and with no regrets. “I knew the racers
would be older, but racing when you’re in your 80s is incredibly
awesome,” said Levy. “It’s also been amazing to learn about every-
one’s background. There’s a place for everyone in masters racing.
The part of the website that says, ‘No racing career to worry about;
no parents or coaches expectations to live up to; just the racing,’
says it all.”
Andrew Sheppard
Class 4, Intermountain
Ski racing has led Andrew Sheppard on an all-consuming, unexpected journey over the course of just two years. Growing up in the
flatlands of New Jersey, Sheppard had only skied a few times as
a kid, but when his youngest set of twins turned 2, things rapidly
changed.
“In 2002 my wife and I went on a winter trip to Montreal. By chance
we took a day trip up to Mont Tremblant,” recalls Sheppard, who
works full-time selling and installing self-surveillance equipment. “I
hadn’t skied in 20 years, but it was so memorable, I decided to
make it a priority for my kids.”
Two years later the Sheppards invested in a time-share at Mont
