Hedge fund manager Patrick Blott was the top Canadian at the US Nationals in 1989 and 1990 at Crested Butte, finishing the downhill just behind the legendary Bill Johnson.
Finance Job: After a decade in takeovers and private equity at JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Borealis (OMERS), Blott founded New York special-situations hedge fund Blott Asset Management in 2006.
Education: University of Western Ontario, Ski Team Member, Division 1 (aka OUAA) three-time National Champions 1987 to 1990, Ontario Scholar and Columbia Business School, MBA 1997.
Ski Highlights: Blott was the top Canadian at the US Nationals two years in a row in 1989 and 1990 at Crested Butte, finishing the downhill just behind the legendary Bill Johnson. He was also a member of Canada's Junior Team (under 15) and national-development team (Southern Ontario Division) and raced in FIS competition throughout North America and Europe, including in the Junior Olympics, National Championships, Eastern Cup, Western Cup, Provincial Cup (Sealtest), and Nor-Am. He was ranked in the top 250 in downhill and top 20 nationally, placing fourth in the 1986 Junior Nationals in Bromont, Quebec. In addition, Blott is a certified Level 3 ski coach (US Level 300), and was head coach of the Columbia Ski Team while at business school.
RBC Capital Markets director Ed Podivinsky won the bronze medal in Lillehammer in 1994.
Finance Job: Ed Podivinsky is a director in the institutional-equity division of RBC Capital Markets.
Ski Highlights: He represented Canada in three Olympic games. He won the bronze medal at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer.
Bank of America director Stephany Thompson was ranked in the top 10 of the Women's World Pro Tour.
Finance Job: She's a director of wealth management and client solutions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Education: University of New Mexico.
Ski Highlights: Thompson was a member of the Junior National Team and the Senior National Team. She received a full athletic scholarship to ski for the University of New Mexico, where she was the team's Most Valuable Player. She skied on the Women's World Pro Tour, where she was ranked in the top 10. She was later the women's head ski coach at the University of Minnesota with an undefeated regular season. She was also a Masters National Champion with an undefeated regular season.
Stifel Nicolaus' managing director, Otto Tschudi, skied in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.
Finance Job: He's a managing director at Stifel Nicolaus.
Education: University of Denver.
Ski Highlights: He's a legendary Norwegian alpine skier. He skied professionally from 1963 until 1980. He has skied in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics.
Guggenheim executive James "Jim" Schaefer was captain of the University of Vermont's 1990 NCAA championship team.
Finance Job: He's a senior managing director at Guggenheim Securities covering energy.
Education: University of Vermont.
Ski Highlights: Schaefer raced for the University of Vermont from 1986 to 1990. He was captain of the 1990 NCAA National Championship team. Before UVM, he was New England prep school champion for Eaglebrook and Deerfield Academy from 1983 to 1986. Schaefer raced in regional USSA races, Eastern Cup, and NorAm events, as well as at US Nationals. Schaefer was Eastern Cup Slalom champion in 1991. He also coached the New Zealand ski team and served as head coach at Mt. Hutt in 1991 and 1992. While at grad school, Jim was an All-American at the University of Michigan on the NCSA tour in 1994. Jim raced occasionally until 2005 at regional USSA races in New England.
Guggenheim senior managing director Dean Keller was on the US Ski Team for four years.
Finance Job: Keller is a senior managing director in Guggenheim energy and power-investment banking group.
Education: University of Vermont.
Ski Highlights: He was a member of the US Ski Team for four years where he skied in a number of World Cup races. While at the University of Vermont, he was a four-time First-Team All American in Alpine Skiing. He was an NCAA National Individual Champion and the captain of UVM's NCAA National Championship Team. He was inducted into the University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame. He attended Burke Mountain Academy and was a former board member there.
Guggenheim associate Colin DeVore was selected as a member of the National Development System with the US Ski Team.
Finance Job: He's an associate at Guggenheim.
Education: University of Vermont.
Ski Highlight: DeVore was ranked 10th in the world for 20-year-olds in slalom and second in North America for 20-year-olds in slalom. He finished second at US Nationals for juniors. He competed for the University of Vermont for all four years of college on a full-ride athletic scholarship. While at UVM, DeVore was a two-time Academic All-American and two-time Strength and Conditioning All-American. He was selected as a member of the National Development System with the US Ski Team. He has trained and competed in the US, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, and South America.
UBS managing director Alexander "Sandy" Williams competed in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary as a member of the US Ski Team.
Finance Job: Williams is a managing director at UBS Private Wealth Management in New York with over 19 years of experience in financial services. Before UBS, he worked at Morgan Stanley's wealth-management division.
Education: University of Rochester (undergrad), UPenn Wharton (MBA).
Ski Highlights: Williams competed in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. He was a member of the US Ski Team from 1982 to 1992.
Goldman Sachs associate Marco Schafferer skied for Bosnia in the 2006 Olympics.
Finance Job: Schafferer works at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in Chicago.
Education: Western State and Westminster College.
Ski Highlights: He competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for Bosnia's ski team. He was only 21 at the time. He finished 30th overall for slalom.
Private-wealth manager Tim Itin was a member of the US Ski Team in college and later competed on Pro Ski Tours.
Finance Job: Itin is a principal at Colorado-based Northside Capital Management, a private wealth-management firm. Itin got his first job at Montgomery Securities in part due to the founder of the firm, Thom Weisel, also being president of the board of trustees of the US Ski Team.
Education: Dartmouth.
Ski Highlights: In 1977, he was the junior national giant-slalom champion. He went on to ski for Dartmouth, where he was named All-American from 1978 to 1980. He was the captain in 1980. While at Dartmouth, he was also a member of the US Ski Team (C Team) from 1979 to 1980. After college, he competed on Pro Ski Tours from 1982 to 1983, ranking 18th overall on the PSRA World Ranking list with two podium finishes.
Private equity analyst Lindsay Cone was an NCAA champion.
Finance Job: She's an investment associate at Partners Capital in Boston. She previously worked as an analyst at private-equity firm Graham Partners.
Education: University of Denver.
Ski Highlights: She was a member of the US Ski Team from 2006 until 2008. She was an NCAA champion and an All-American. She also played varsity golf at the University of Denver.
Private-equity analyst Sean Cummiskey was the overall winner of the 2002 Junior Olympics.
Finance Job: He's an associate at Philadelphia-area private-equity firm Graham Partners.
Education: Williams College (c/o 2012).
Career Highlights: Cummiskey raced all four years at Williams College and was captain his senior year. He had top-15 finishes in eastern-college ski races. He had six top-three finishes in Rocky Mountain Trophy Series races. He raced in several North American Cups (NorAms). He finished third overall in the Junior Canadian Nationals SG 2006 and second in the Vermont States 2004-Giant Slalom, and was the overall winner in the 2002 Junior Olympics (16 and under).
Private-equity leveraged-credit analyst Alex Felix won the Junior Olympics' Slalom event in 2003.
Finance Job: Alex Felix is a leveraged-credit analyst at New York City-based private-equity firm American Capital.
Education: Dartmouth.
Ski Highlights: Alex Felix was captain of the Dartmouth Alpine Ski Team. He was the 2007 NCAA national champion and the 2003 Junior Olympic slalom champion.
Braden Harden, a portfolio analyst for Goldman, was a two-time All-American.
Finance Job: Harden is a portfolio analyst with Goldman Sachs in Burlington, Vermont.
Education: St. Michaels.
Ski Highlights: Harden is a two-time NCAA D1 All-American. He has multiple top-10 D1 finishes. He also raced in NorAm events and the Continental Cup. He was the captain of St. Michaels' D1 ski team in 2010.
Morgan Stanley financial adviser Ron Biedermann was a former top-ranked skier.
Finance Job: Biedermann is a senior portfolio manager/financial adviser at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Burlington, Vermont.
Education: Middlebury College.
Ski Highlights: He grew up ski racing for the Mt. Mansfield Ski Club. In 1972, he was on the national squad racing the Can-Am circuit. In 1975, Biedermann made the US "A" Team. In 1978, while training with the US Team in Austria, he was seriously injured and had to be air-lifted out for surgery.
Jeff Kirwood, a managing director at Aspen Grove Capital, was ranked in the top three for Giant Slalom and Super-G for his age group in high school.
Finance Job: He's a managing director at Denver-area Aspen Grove Capital.
Education: Dartmouth.
Ski Highlights: Kirwood grew up ski racing and attended the Green Mountain Valley School, a ski academy in Vermont. He was ranked in the top three in the country in giant slalom and Super-G for his age group while in high school. He went on to ski for Dartmouth College and was the captain of the Dartmouth Ski Team in 1991.
Broker-dealer associate Chris Colpitts was an All-American in men's Giant Slalom and two-time academic All-American at the University of Vermont.
Finance Job: He's an associate at Churchill Capital, specializing in event-driven research and trading.
Education: University of Vermont.
Ski Highlights: Chris Colpitts was ranked No. 1 in the world for juniors in slalom during the 2008-09 season. He competed for the University of Vermont for all four years of college and was captain of the team his senior year. While at UVM, Colpitts was an All-American in men's giant slalom and a two-time academic All-American. He was elected as a member of the National Development System with the US Ski Team. He has competed in the US, Canada, Europe, South America, New Zealand, and Australia.
Erica Nourjian of the Brown University Investment Office was on the US Ski Team Development Squad.
Finance Job: She's the head of operations at the Brown University Investment Office. Before that, she was the COO of Boston-based Antarctica Asset Management.
Education: Middlebury College.
Ski Highlights: Nourjian grew up in Stowe, Vermont, and began skiing at age 3. She was named to the US Ski Team Development Squad for one year. She attended Burke Mountain Academy her senior year of high school. She raced in the Junior Olympics and Senior Nationals. She raced in the NorAm series, too. While at Middlebury, she was captain of the ski team. She competed in the World University Games. She was a two-time NCAA All-American and voted NCAA Woman of the Year for Vermont in 1992.
Barclays associate Alexander Dyroff was a three-time NCAA championship skier.
Finance Job: He's an associate in natural-resources leveraged finance at Barclays. He previously worked for Lehman Brothers.
Education: Williams College.
Ski Highlights: Dyroff was captain of the Williams Alpine Ski Team (Division I). While in college, he was named First Team All East (top five skiers in the Eastern Conference of Division I). He was also a three-time NCAA Academic All-American and a three-time NCAA championship skier (top 30 athletes in NCAA Division I). He was ranked as high as 30th in slalom in the US and 298th globally (across all age categories), as well as 62nd in giant slalom in the US and 445th globally (across all age categories). Dyroff started skiing at 2 and racing at 6. For high school, he attended Burke Mountain Academy (Mikaela Shiffrin's alma mater).
Institutional sales associate Zac Brown was an All-American for the University of Vermont's ski team.
Finance Job: Brown is an associate in institutional sales for Sidoti & Co.
Education: University of Vermont.
Ski Highlights: He was a member of the University of Vermont Alpine Ski Team (NCAA Division I). He was also captain of the ski team in college and was an All-American. He grew up in Sun Valley and was ranked in the top three in the country for slalom for his age group.
O'Leary Funds CEO Connor O'Brien skied in two Olympic games for Great Britain and Estonia.
Finance Job: He's the president and CEO of O'Leary Funds and president and CIO of Stanton Asset Management. He began his career in M&A at Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.
Education: Middlebury College and Dartmouth College (MBA).
Ski Highlights: He's a former Canadian skier who skied for Great Britain in the 1984 Winter Olympics and Estonia in the 1994 Games. While skiing for the British, he finished 33rd in the downhill event. After the '84 games, O'Brien started skiing for Canada. He retired after two shoulder operations. In 1994, he made an Olympic appearance, again skiing for Estonia.
