In my experience, all NSC weeklong trips provide many great memories and special moments. For me, as I happened to be the trip leader for this trip, I had some of the usual great memories of yet another great NSC week, but in addition, I experienced some events during the week of January 23-31, 2010 that not only gave me a unique perspective on why we ride on snow, but also how to live life.
One of the goals I had as trip leader on this special week was to tweak some things that I thought had a good chance of enhancing the experience of the band of 25 NSC members who took the opportunity to not only ski at one of the great resorts in the world but also to experience the main venue of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games that was to commence a mere two weeks after our trip. For example, I decided to hold a pizza party on the first night we were in Whistler instead of the usual wine & cheese meet & greet as I had seen many a member on other NSC weeklong trips succumb to the effects of alcohol-induced altitude sickness. Also, I set the trip dates as a Sunday to Sunday trip instead of the usual Saturday to Saturday trip. One of the upsides of setting the trip as a SUN-SUN trip was that the participants, including the trip leader, had a full day on Saturday to prepare without having to work that day.
So Saturday, 1/23, started just like any other day before a NSC weeklong trip where I was busy finalizing all the many details for the trip. I was driving to Concord on a trip errand and then I got a call at 10:03 AM from my brother Bryce. As I am close to my brother, this sort of call was nothing unusual. However, what Bryce had to tell me was the absolute last thing I could ever think of and it turned my whole world upside down. Instead of wishing me a safe trip to Whistler, he informed me that his wife Joy, my beloved sister-in-law, had been found by him unconscious at home early in the morning after he had come back from a very quick 45 minute bike ride, and that, even though she had been rushed to emergency within minutes, that we had lost her. She was so young… There had been no warning…
I did not know what to say… At first, I thought my brother had meant that their dog Bijou had just been lost. I was struck numb and speechless. Here one moment I was deeply concerned and occupied with getting myself and the rest of the trip to Whistler for a NSC weeklong trip of fun and memories, and the next moment my brother had lost his young wife, Joy. Suddenly skiing and the trip took a backseat to my upside down real world…
While I was sitting in my car at a Concord parking lot, while numb and in great emotional pain, I started slowly to remember that I had the responsibility of leading the trip to Whistler. I finally was able to think a little, although I felt as stunned as if I had been hit by a truck. I thought, “What would Joy want me to do?” Then I had the answer somehow. Of course she would have wanted me to come back home to Orange County to be with my brother during this inconceivably difficult time. Then, I knew, that once things had settled down she would really want me to join the trip and get to the top of a mountain and soak in the grand view from the top. Joy had known that I had worked on the Whistler trip for the better part of a year. She knew how important this trip had been for me to organize well. In fact we had chatted briefly about the Whistler trip the night before…
So I had an inspiration to call Curtis Otaguro and ask him to take over the trip and tell him that my goal was to join up with the group on Wednesday, 1/27. Curtis, who had met Joy a year before on a Christmas trip to Orange County with me, was stunned and in disbelief. But he took over and I knew that the trip was in great hands.
So I carpooled to SFO on Sunday morning with Debbie Fong and met the group and checked everyone in. Everyone on the trip was concerned and shocked that their trip leader was unable to make at the very least the first part of the trip, not the least to mention the reason why. I was very sad as I saw the last of the group disappear through the TSA security checkpoint. I made the lonely trip on the AirBART to the Southwest terminal and jumped on a plane to OC. It was the longest plane ride back home that I ever experienced.
Curtis kept in contact with me via email and voicemail. Only one bag had been misplaced but it arrived the next morning. Otherwise, the inbound trip to Whistler had almost been flawless. Debbie and Curtis had ordered 7 XL pizzas for the group and the food was wiped out! Curtis told me that the weather conditions were challenging for the first day Whistler on-mountain tour, but everyone had started to get down to the business of enjoying the trip. Also, Curtis told me that everyone was very pleased with the quality of the accommodations – The Legends at Creekside.
Meanwhile, back in OC, while making arrangements for Joy, we found out from the doctors that she had succumbed to a massive cerebral aneurysm. It gave us some comfort as the doctors told us that she had not suffered. Also, the doctors told us that even if she had been in a hospital ER room when the aneurysm ruptured, there would have been no chance that she would have been saved. She had been taken from us prematurely and cruelly for sure, but at least we know that Joy had not suffered. In parallel, I altered my Whistler itinerary to go up on Wednesday. This time, getting to a ski resort was to be my personal mountain that I would climb. I also had a plan in mind…
Wednesday, 1/27, was my travel day to Whistler. Karen Soo had taken the time to pick me up at Oakland airport on Tuesday night and take me to SFO in the morning. The flight had only a few passengers and Air Canada is an excellent nonstop carrier to Vancouver. The ground transport shuttle to Whistler was excellent and the views of the inland waterways on the way to Whistler were spectacular. When I finally walked into my condo, Angie Fong and everyone were in the midst of preparing for the traditional NSC weeklong trip potluck, with a Hawaiian Luau theme. Angie had personally transported NSC Luau decorations that had been used many times before at our events and the place looked great. It gave me a very warm feeling that everyone was so glad to see me after all that had happened. Also, everyone really appreciated that I would at least get to sample a little of what I had taken the better part of a year to plan. I felt that seeing these emotions from the trip participants alone was worth my extra effort to rejoin the trip.
The next morning, I had a simple plan. I would go to the top of Blackcomb Mountain in the 7th Heaven bowl area and snap a tribute picture to Joy. I carefully packed a special shirt and cap that had special meaning to Joy in my Camel-Back. The shirt had an Excelsior Elementary School logo emblazoned on the front. Joy had been a dedicated 5th grade teacher at the school for many years and she had taken the shirt and had pictures taken with her wearing it on many of the adventures that she and my brother had gone on in their 15 years together (see the picture with her at Tokyo Disneyland). The Van Halen cap I wore was the logo of one of her favorite bands. I like to feel that this tribute picture on the top of Blackcomb represents my personal triumph of spirit during this difficult time (see picture). I eventually used this meaningful picture with the grand mountain vista when I had the honor of speaking at Joy’s remembrance event that was held on Saturday, 2/6, at the Grand Ballroom of the Long Beach Queen Mary.
The next morning, I had a simple plan. I would go to mid-mountain on Whistler and have a similar tribute picture taken next to the winter Olympics icon, the Inukshuk after our group photo shoot (see group photo). I skied down from Rendezvous, on a great run with great snow conditions and the plan was to ski to the bottom of the Red Express chair and then go back up to Rendezvous. On a very fast and very icy cat track I hit a patch of ice and got launched. I tumbled and my fall got stopped by my right shoulder with a slam. After I got up, I noticed through the pain that my arm did not move. I finally skied painfully down and met up with Frank Chang, David Uyeda, and Debbie Fong. I got examined by Whistler Safety Patrol and was taken down the Creekside Gondola, with its great views of the Olympic downhill run. At the Whistler emergency clinic, I was diagnosed with a fracture of the thick upper part of the humerus. Unfortunately, I had truly become one with the mountain for a moment and now I had an unintended souvenir.
At the group dinner that Friday night at Jordan’s Crossing at the nearby Nita Lake Lodge, everyone was once again extremely concerned and aghast at what luck had befallen me. In spite of my condition, we had a great time with excellent food and excellent drink and excellent company. I was presented with a very nice Olympics-themed navy-blue jacket and other gifts for leading the trip. I will always cherish these gifts and I will always remember the NSC fellowship more.
And so I end my tale of tragedy and some triumph. While my physical pain was nothing to sneeze at, I now look at the world a lot differently because of the emotional pain I suffered on the day before this trip. The lesson that I learned is that I will always strive to live life to the fullest extent possible while trying hard at everything I do. I accomplished a lot even in the brief time I was at Whistler on this trip as my sister in law Joy did during her relatively short time with us. She lived life with gusto and no regrets as I tried to emulate after I caught up with the NSC group at Whistler after such an obstacle had been placed in front of me.
Thank you to all of the NSC Whistler 2010 trip participants for your support. Also, thank you to Curtis and Angie and Debbie and Frank and Karen and David U. for your help during this difficult week. Leading this trip was a privilege and the delayed journey to get to the top of the mountain was worth so much to me. I will always remember the lessons on life I learned at Whistler.
