Jeff Shiffrin “centered his life” on family and fun
Recalling one of his favorite memories of his father, Taylor Shiffrin described a day just like Friday in Colorado: a “Snowmageddon” day in the Back Bowls of Vail, which were largely deserted because of Interstate 70 closures.
But it wasn’t just frolicking in epic powder with family that brought the recollection to Shiffrin’s mind before Friday’s memorial for his father, Jeff, who died Sunday at age 65 after an accident at the family home in Edwards. It was how his father comforted his little sister, Mikaela, after she took a fall. Mikaela, now the world’s best ski racer, was 8 or 9 at the time.
“We were skiing down the back of Forever, which was one of Dad’s favorite runs, and he was teaching us how to ski real powder,” Taylor said. “Mikaela was skiing down and fell over, got stuck upside down — because the powder was so deep — with her skis flailing around. Dad skis down and digs her out, pulls her up, wipes the snow off her face.
“Mikaela was just bawling, mixed with giggling and laughter from enjoyment, yet fear. Dad smiled and said, ‘Are you OK? You want to keep going?’ He was like, ‘This is OK, it happens. You crash, you get up and dust yourself off and you keep having fun. You scare yourself a little bit and then you enjoy it even more.’ That just captures everything Dad stood for: Making sure we were having fun, helping guide us, saying, ‘Hey, are you still having fun?’”
Jeffrey Scott Shiffrin was born March 8, 1954, in Dover, N.J. Growing up, he excelled at sports and was an avid musician. He graduated from Dartmouth College and New Jersey College of Medicine. During his residency at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton, Mass., he met his future wife, Eileen Condron, who was an ICU nurse there. They were married in 1986.
Five years later, they moved to Vail because of a shared love of skiing and the mountains. He worked as an anesthesiologist at Vail Valley Medical Center and later served as an associate professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Taylor was born in 1992 and Mikaela followed in 1995.
Mikaela is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and has piled up 66 World Cup wins. Taylor raced at the University of Denver, earning an MBA.
“Mom and Dad never pushed us to do anything, they guided us,” Taylor said. “He was a believer in the process, not in the results, and because of that he ardently fought against the notion of pushing someone towards a specific objective. Because you can’t achieve those objectives without the process.”
Taylor said his father “centered his life” on the family. He had a catchphrase for the kids — “Be nice, think first, have fun” — but he also called them to excellence.
“He would often say anything that brings immediate pleasure or enjoyment with ease probably isn’t good for you and it’s not worth it,” Taylor said. “You’ll never enjoy that as much as the feeling of pursuing something, growing, expanding your mind, learning a new skill, trying really hard to nail the perfect turn. And when you do achieve that, and the process is fulfilled, that feeling of gratification and elation is unparalleled.”
Even as Mikaela came to dominate skiing — she has won three consecutive World Cup overall titles and is leading in the points again this year — her father made sure she knew she didn’t have to keep grinding on the grueling World Cup circuit if it wasn’t fun anymore.
“Even in the last week,” Taylor said. “He would say, ‘Mikaela, are you still enjoying skiing? I don’t care what anybody else says. If you enjoy the World Cup, keep doing it, I’ll support it and I’ll do everything in my power to keep supporting it.’ It seemed like he had limitless power, because he had no problem supporting everything we tried to do.”
Taylor said the Vail Valley and the skiing community at large have been a great comfort to the family.
“We just had all of our guidance, wisdom and knowledge of absolutely everything taken from us,” Taylor said. “It will take the entire community to get through it. The support that is flooding in is overwhelming. And it is very much needed.”
Friday’s memorial was private. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to the U.S. Ski Team or the Alzheimer’s Association.