It seems that one is always part of the Nisei Ski Club. There are a lot of good things about the club that keep bringing me back. I met my husband Winston through the club and I’ve made some lifelong friends. So I’m serving as your newsletter editor for the umpteenth time and as Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, “I’m b-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-c-k!”.
Thanks to Dan Lew for his work as newsletter editor for the past 4 years. Enjoy your break, Dan because you may be coming back in the future. Wink. Wink.
Jake the Ski Fool says “follow me to Park City/Canyons for our 2016 ski week trip.” For the 2015-16 season, Park City is combining with The Canyons to bring you over 7300 acres of skiing. NSC has not been to Park City since 2001 and it’s time to make a return trip. There’s a new gondola that will take us to Canyons for additional skiing at no extra cost.
Dates: February 20 – 27, 2016
Price: $1375 (Senior – $1310)
Trip price includes:
• Roundtrip airfare from San Francisco to Salt Lake City on United Airlines
• Roundtrip charter bus from Salt Lake City to Park Station Accommodations
• 7 nights stay at the Park Station condominiums (one block walk to Town Lift)
• 5 of 6 day lift ticket (6-day optional, senior (65+) also available) for Park City and Canyons
• Farewell Dinner
• NSC Souvenir
• Mid-week activities at additional cost:
o Winter Zip Tours
o Heliskiing
o Sleigh Rides
o Guided Snowshoe Tours
• Price does not include Baggage Fees. See United Airlines current baggage fees
o Baggage fees as of May, 2015: $25/first, $35/second. Boot and ski bag are considered a single bag.
Price and availability guaranteed for 40 seats only. Sign up now. Link to flyer and sign-up form: Park City 2016 flyer.
Sign-up deadline: October 10, 2015
Are you interested in a weekend in the Sierra Foothills and staying at a historic river inn? The Monterey Ski Club often joins us NSCers on our weekend ski trips in the winter and have opened up their annual summer Georgetown trip to us.
They are planning a weekend stay at the historic American River Inn in Georgetown (between Auburn and Placerville NE of Sacramento). Activities will include rafting on the River” OR enjoying a tour of the local shops and wineries. More information is available on the flyer. Link to the flyer: MSSC Great Summer Adventure Trip 2015.
Contact Amy McDonald for more information.
Are you ready to do another San Francisco hike? Join our intrepid hiker Hoyt Nelson on Sunday, July 12 to visit the stairways in the Forest Hill and Golden Gate Heights area. The club hasn’t done this hike since 2009 so it’s about time to do it again. Hoyt has been leading hikes for years and you’re sure to have a good time and learn interesting things.
More information is on the 
flyer.
Link to the flyer: SF Stair Hike #5 July 2015 flyer.
~ Karen Soo, Trip Director ~
Hello NSCers and friends! The Mountain View Obon Festival will be upon us before we know it, on the weekend of July 18-19. NSC will staff the beer booth and we’re looking for volunteers who love beer, meeting people, and enjoy having a good time!
Below is the current schedule. If you want to volunteer, please contact me, Karen via email at: tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org.
Come on, you NSC beer drinkers! There are many of you out there!
| Serving Beer at Mountain View Obon | |||
| Saturday July 18, 2015 | |||
| Name | |||
| 4:00pm – 7:00pm | 1 | D.U. | |
| 2 | B.L | ||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | |||
| Sunday July 19, 2015 | |||
| 12:00-3:00pm | 1 | B.H. | |
| 2 | K.K. | ||
| 3 | W.K. | ||
| 4 | |||
| 3:00pm -7:00pm | 1 | C.O. | |
| 2 | A.K. | ||
| 3 | |||
| 4 |
~ Sandy Kiyomura, Board Member ~
This will be the 10th year that BAC has hosted an A’s/fireworks game to benefit Disabled Sports USA Far West (DSUSAFW). Disabled Sports USA has a ski school at Alpine Meadows. They are a fantastic organization, providing low-cost ski instruction to individuals with physical or mental challenges. They do not receive any kind of Federal or State funding and depend on donations as well as volunteers (I was a volunteer ski instructor for over 10 years).
You will get field-level seats as well as a great view of the fireworks afterward. Last year, BAC had 200 ski club participants and it would be great if Nisei could get a few fans to support this effort. Please join me for this game. It will be fun and also benefit DSUSA.
In addition there is a pre-game BBQ. Dennis Heffley, BAC past-president gets a commercial grill into the parking lot and there will be burgers, hot dogs, salads and his famous homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Contact Sandy Kiyomura (skiyomura@gmail.com) if you are interested in attending this fun and worthwhile event, and also see the flyer in the newsletter. Link to flyer:BAC DSUSA Baseball Game Flyer in the newsletter. If you are planning on attending, then remit a check in the amount of $32/per seat to Sandy Kiyomura made payable to Nisei Ski Club.
Sandy Kiyomura
18 Cheshire Court
Alameda, CA 94502
~ Dave Schultz, Board Member ~
On May 3, 23 ski club members and guests from San Jose to Sacramento gathered in San Francisco to begin perhaps the most famous of the stairway walks in the city. Based on parts of stairway walks in Ada Bakalinksy’s guidebook, we took in some of the best sights from the Telegraph Hill and North Beach neighborhoods. Total length of the hike was only around 4.5 miles, but it was nearly all up and down (I’m guessing an elevation gain/loss of between 1500-2000 feet).
Led by the intrepid Hoyt Nelson, we started at Levi Strauss Plaza. This plaza was a surprise treat for me, since I had never been there before. I always knew that the headquarters for Levi Strauss & Co was in the Bay Area, but it didn’t sink in until I was standing in the plaza that this is the headquarters. (Levi Strauss got its start in San Francisco in 1853 when Strauss sold canvas overalls to gold miners.)
As you can see in the photos below, it’s a beautiful square with inlaid brick and stone, an impressive fountain, and even more impressive foliage in the park that they’ve built there. You can also see our first destination for the hike – Hoyt Tower. Er, uh, sorry … I mean Coit Tower.
Before climbing the Greenwich Stairs towards the tower, we had to admire the quirky architecture of the base of the stairs. As you can see, the non-linear construction gave the base a theme park appearance, letting us know that a fun time was about to start.
We started the lon
g walk up, and soon reached the Montgomery St overlook. There sits an old SF landmark called the Julius Castle. The building dates back to 1922 and indeed looks
like a miniature castle. For a long time, it was a restaurant, but then fell into disrepair. It was repurchased in 2012, refurbished, and is now a functioning restaurant again.
Fr
om the parking lot near the Julius Castle, we got our first good views of the eastern SF Bay. Looking down at the piers, it seemed like we were in Costa Rica rather than California. Anyone want to take a cruise?
Although the day started cloudy, we had a feeling that the clouds would burn off. Nature didn’t disappoint us and before long we had a gorgeous sunny day.
Turning upwards, we finished ascending the 284-foot hill (approx 400 stairs from the start) to the base of Coit Tower. Probably the highlight of the day’s hike for most of us, the art-deco style tower offers commanding of the city, even from the base.
We didn’t have time to ascend the tower since the wait to go to the top is pretty long, but we did have time to step inside the foyer and view the famous murals. The murals depict SF life during the Great Depression. They were recently restored (the official re-opening was in May 2014) and the colors are as vibrant as ever.
Gathering at the back of the tower we continued winding our way around Telegraph Hill, in and out of streets, until we reached Lombard Street – the “crookedest street in the world”. With plenty of tourists in tow, we ascended up the street to Hyde Street.
Ever vigilant to keep t
ogether as a group, we prowled through the North Beach neighborhood, stopping at times to admire the fine architecture of many old homes and their graceful gardens. However, there are new apartment buildings as well, and one of them had a really cool fountain, reminding us that modern art can be found in San Francisco in unexpected places.
Hoyt planned the route so that we had a chance to visit the San Francisco Art Museum. Built on a hill, with some very angular buildings, the museum afforded us an opportunity to view plenty of art works and climb yet more stairs (the museum is on many levels). As an added bonus, there were excellent views of Alcatraz and the intervening neighborhoods from the decks and roofs of the buildings.
Traversing the stairs on this hike, we were constantly reminded of the beauty and attention put into the gardens on either side of the stairs. Even on the longest stairs, every foot of garden was manicured in some way. The creative power of the people who live in the houses along the stairways is always impressive.
Montgomery Street was steep (ribs in the sidewalk are a big hint) and gave us one of the best workouts on the hike, but the views of downtown, especially the Transamerica Pyramid were worth the effort.
As we dropped down into the Vallejo Street neighborhood, we went through northChinatown and then the Columbus Ave Italian section. We had been walking for about 2 & 1/2 hours without stopping for food, so you can imagine what was leading us as smells from adozen restaurants wafted by.
Finally, we succumbed to our hunger and stopped in at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where all sorts of dim-sum style stuffed buns were being served. It was a lucky find, since from mixed meat & veggies to desert buns, everything was excellent and very inexpensive. Sorry for not remembering the name of this place, but I have a feeling that finding it again would be a challenge anyway.
At the top of the Filbert Stairs is a small overlook where we got the BIG view of eastern SF. From Treasure Island to the financial district – we took it all in under a cloudless sky.
We finished our hike by descending the Filbert Stairs past homes that get so much exposure to hiking tourists that we had to keep our noise level down. But it was hard not to be jolly knowing that we were going down the steep 400 stairs rather than up. And as always, it was tough not to comment about all the amazing foliage that has been planted by the homeowners.
Back at Levi Square, the Sacramento and South Bay groups bid a fond farewell to each other, then headed home. As we drove past the many sights we saw from above, we smiled at having done another hike unique to the City By The Bay. Hope to see you at the next one!
Out with the OLD, and I mean OLD!!! and in with the NEW, well, maybe not exactly NEW, ummm – how about RECYCLED???
The month 0f May marks the end of NSC’s membership year and it also marks my last month as your newsletter editor. When I became newsletter editor 4 years ago, we were still printing and mailing paper newsletters and then duplicating the publications online. Today, we’re online only, resulting in more immediate notifications of club events and information as we no longer have to wait until the next month to send out club information.
I present to you, our new newsletter editor, Judy Hom!!! Actually, Judy is a former newsletter editor, so she’s actually being recycled. Judy will bring new and interesting aspects to the newsletter.
So, a warm welcome to Judy!
ELECTIONS – on the subject of new club officers….for the first time in recent memory, elections have been held. Many incumbents have been re-elected, but more importantly, it’s exciting to see some new board members!!! (plus one re-cycled newsletter editor)
Here are the election results.
RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP – Did I mention that this is the end of our membership year? Renew your membership before the end of May and save $5 on your membership dues. The memership form can be found on the right side of NSC’s home page. To save wear and tear on your scrolling fingers, here’s the link: MEMBERSHIP FORM.
SIMPLY PRESIDENTIAL – Incumbent and president elect, Armand Gutierrez finally reveals the destination of the 2016 week long snow trip! Many of you have already guessed it based on the breacrumbs that Armand has been dropping. Where will it be??? The secret is in Armand’s May President’s Message and Membership report.
ALAMEDA BAY TRAIL BIKE RIDE – don’t forget Karen and Sandy’s 
Alameda Bay Trail bike ride on Saturday, May 30. Dust of your penny farthings!
The details are here in the Alameda Bay Trail Bike Ride flier.
ANNUAL PICNIC – Mark your calendars!!! Save the date – June 28 for this year’s Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic. The details are here in Karen’s picnic flier.
Watch for Armand’s EVITE coming soon!
ALPINE MEADOWS – SQUAW VALLEY GONDOLA LINK?
Have you ever been at Squaw Valley or Alpine Meadows and looked across and wondered if it were possible to ski to the other resort? Well, your dreams may come true!
While Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows have common ownership, KSL Capital Partners, there is no way to ski or ride from one resort to the other as there’s no lift that connects the two and more importantly, there’s a small sliver of land between the two that is owned by Troy Caldwell. Until now, Troy has had dreams of erecting his own ski lift and has not been ameniable to KSL building across his land. This is changing…
If all goes well, a connecting gondola may be in our future as described in this article: Two Mountains, One Gondola.
This closes out my final Editor’s Newsletter. message. I bid you adeiu!
Handing over the reins to Judy!
Y.N.E.
~ Incumbent and President Elect, Armand Gutierrez ~
Now that the ski season is officially over with all the Tahoe resorts closed, it’s time to bring an end to the NSC 2014-2015 season. I thought this past season was pretty incredible and highlighted by a variety of accomplishments:
June marks the start of the 2015-2016 NSC season, and beginning this month, you can take advantage of the $5 membership discount if you sign up and submit your membership form before May 31st. Please note that Greg Wong is the new Membership Chairperson and the forms should be sent to him. Link for the 2015-2016 Membership form
Since it’s the end of the ski season, it’s time to start having our spring NSC events. Coming up we have a Bike Ride through Alameda on May 30th led by Karen Soo and Sandy Kiyomura, and our annual Post-Season Membership meeting and luau picnic on June 28th. Be sure to gander at the flyers in this month’s newsletter for details. Also, we’ll be looking for the usual volunteers for the annual Mt. View Obon Festival on 18-19 July. If interested, then be sure to send a note to Karen Soo (tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org), NSC’s trip director.
The CANYONS
PARK CITY
For those of you that have not figured out our destination then let it be known to all that NSC will be going to Park City, Utah. Plans are all ready in progress and details will be in the June newsletter. Why Park City? Well, it’s been quite awhile since the club has been there so we’re probably due for a trip to Park City. Plus, for the 2015-16 season Park City is combining with the Canyons to become the largest ski resort in the U.S. with 7,300 acres. And for those of you that get the Vail Resorts Epic Pass (
Save the date! Save the time! Save your energy for catching up with friends! Link to the : 2015-2016 NSC Picnic Flyer
Nisei Ski Club Annual
Membership Meeting & Luau Picnic
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Who: NSC members/ families and invited guests.
Look for your Evite invitation in June.
From the desk of the elections chairperson, Hoyt Nelson, we have the offical 2015-2016 election results:
The results of the election are:
Thanks to everyone who supported our ski club by nominating, voting and/or being elected.
Welcome to my penultimate newsletter. NSC will be having its elections soon and before long, it will be out with the old and in with the new!
RIP 2014-2015 Tahoe Ski Season – may next season bring us bountiful snowfall. As of the end of March, only Kirkwood, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are still operating, albeit in”Spring Operations” mode. Kirkwood’s backside is closed, however. Squaw and Alpine have May 5th planned closure dates – it remains to be seen if they can sustain operations that long.
For more info, see the Tahoe Best website.
A couple of interesting ski resort tidbits came across the editorial desk yesterday that you might find interesting:
Merriam-Webster defines PERISH as : “to die or be killed“, but further research revealed that the word “PERISHER” in Australian English means: “bounder, chap, fellow”. So, never fear, skiing or riding at the PERISHER will not mean you will PERISH!! ~ as an English friend once said, “we are people separated by a common language!”.
Now, onto club business –
First off, we have president Armand’s President’s Message and Membership Reports. Armand laments the end of the ski season and teases us with the location of the 2015/2016 week trip. Can you guess where it will be?? Hmmm, seems to me that he already revealed the location after the Jackson Hole trip, but maybe he was being obtuse??! Maybe it was just my imagination (running away with me).
SF STAIRWAY WALK #1 – On May 3, Hoyt Nelson will graciousy host his FINAL San 
Francisco Stairway Walk #1 . Quoth The Raven , “Nevermore” will Hoyt lead this particular walk.
Some of the walk highlights are:
Here are the details : NISEI SKI CLUB: SF STAIRWAY WALK #1.
NSC RIDES THE ALAMEDA BAY TRAIL – Karen “Ms Giro” Soo and Sandy “Ms Derailleur” Kiyomura will be our randonneurs extraordinaires on May 30 on the Alameda Bay Trail. Come one come all, all are welcome, including minors accompanied by an adult.
Whether you’re a seasoned Alpe D’Huez veteran (I’m taking about you, Allen!) or an occasional rider, drag out your stingrays, beach cruisers,or carbon superbikes – it matters not, come and enjoy the scenery and company while getting some exercise.
Here are the details : NSC Alameda East Bay Bike Ride.
Until next month, and get your taxes done soon! Ed….
~ President Armand Gutierrez ~
It is sad to say that my ski season has officially ended. I went from skiing Northstar last Monday and Tuesday (March 23-24 ) to making my first hang gliding flight of the new season on Friday. However, I must say that Northstar had received 3”-5” of sweet powder Sunday night and Monday’s day on the slopes was one of the best days I’ve had all season. Although some of my favorite runs were still closed there was enough powder coverage to venture into the trees and make fresh tracks. Couple that with hardly any lift lines and beautiful sunny skies and you’ve got a great day on the slopes. Hard to believe that it was such a good day at the end of a not-so-great season.
Since it’s the end of the ski season, it’s time to start having our spring NSC events. Coming up, we have a Bike Ride through Alameda and a Stairway Hike in San Francisco. Be sure to gander at the flyers in this month’s newsletter for details.
Ski Week 2016Now that my ski season has ended it’s time to focus on our ski week for next year. I’ve been looking at a few resorts but one has constantly returned as the best choice for next year. Where, you say? Come on now, that would be far too easy to let you know this early. But, I will give you a few clues:
Well, those are the clues. Figured it out yet? One side note regarding the Epic Pass – the Epic Tahoe Local Pass (Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood) is currently selling for $479, and that includes six Buddy passes. But, you have to purchase the pass by April 12th. If you ski at least 4 days at any of these resorts then it would be worthwhile to pick up this pass for next season AND use it for five days on our ski week. Purchasing after the 12th will probably be at the same price (for several months, anyway) but might not offer as many Buddy passes.
Nominations & ElectionsThe nominations process has been completed and the next step is elections. The elections chairman tells me there were quite a few responses and people nominated for the various positions. Of course, not everyone that was nominated accepted his or her nomination but that was expected. But we do have a slate of nominees for you to elect for the 2015-16 season and you will be getting an email informing you to vote online using SurveyMonkey.
Membership Activity
For the month of March there were no new signups. Currently we have 94 members in the club.
This hike is by far the most popular of the series. This is an ideal time of year to do it (unless our crazy weather patterns continue). Some of the highlights of the hike are:
MEET 9:30 AM AT LEVI STRAUSS PLAZA at 1255 Battery St. (bounded by Sansome, Battery, Union and Greenwich) with water, lunch snacks, camera, sturdy walking shoes, sun protection/sweater (depending on the weather), SF map and energy. Parking meters don’t run on Sunday again, so you should have no trouble finding a spot on Sansome, Battery or their cross streets. If all else fails, try for an all day parking lot along the Embarcadero.
Although a fairly strenuous hike of about 3-1/2 hours (but less than 5 miles), we will stop frequently for the views and snacks. We will eat lunch at a local restaurant (optional).
To sign up and get detailed meeting instructions or help with transportation, contact Hoyt Nelson at Stairs#1@niseiskiclub.org.
HURRY: Signup limited to 20 applicants so we can point out the many features of note without shouting.
Presented by : Karen Soo & Sandy Kiyomura
Join Nisei Ski Club on this easy paced, mostly flat ride. We will bike along the Alameda shoreline and the Oakland Airport via the Ron Cowan Parkway. Bike past the airport and continue along the SF Bike trail towards San Leandro ending at the picnic area across from the Monarch Bay Golf course. The ride is approximately 11.5 miles with an optional 4 miles to Sulfur Creek, Hayward after lunch. Lunch is available for purchase at Monarch Bay Golf Course
23- 30 miles round trip.
Meet: Crown Memorial State Beach Parking Lot in Alameda.
Parking: Free street parking or $5.00 for the parking lot.
When: Saturday, May 30th, 2015
Time: 10:00 AM, rolling out at 10:30 AM
Cost: FREE for Members and Guests
SIGN-UP DEADLINE: May 27th, 2015
What to bring: All riders MUST wear a helmet and should carry a pump. Bikes should be in good condition. You should bring a water bottle, spare inner tube, patch kit, tire levers, sunscreen, lunch and snacks to share (optional). Due to unpredictable weather, a light jacket is suggested for cool weather conditions.
Directions and Information: We will send information in a separate email.
Help needed: Group leaders and flat-fixers needed in case we split up into multiple groups.
No SAG Support but we will be equipped for flats and minor repairs.
RSVP Please email Contacts: Karen Soo alamedabike@niseiskiclub.org
Sandy Kiyomura alamedabike2@niseiskiclub.org
*Photographs of this event including participants may appear on the NSC website or in the newsletter.
**All participants must sign the Nisei Ski Club Waiver at the start of the ride.
All are welcome. Minors under 18 must be accompanied with an adult.
Hoyt Nelson – Elections Chairperson
We need your help – seriously.
Every year we ask the membership to nominate prospective members to fill the board of directors for the following fiscal year. The offices are: president; vice president; secretary; treasurer; trip director; membership director; newsletter editor and board member(s) at-large to act as “floater” to help the board as needed. (A list of board members’ duties is available to any member on request at elections@niseiskiclub.org.) It’s a long process of gathering nominees and getting them to agree to run, making up and distributing a ballot and waiting for results to come in before we can announce the new board before June 1. We need to start the process now in order to complete it on time
Please consider the following:
Is the Nisei Ski Club beneficial to you and do you remember that it is run entirely by volunteers?
If you think you can add value to the board, don’t just wait for others to write in your name. Please step up to help this club to be the one you wanted it to be when you joined (or better).
You may think you don’t have enough time for all those far away meetings and such. Actually, it does not take all that much time, and the process of running the club has been streamlined in the last several years to require even less time. Plus – annual dues are waived for all board members.
Are you cautious to step up? Here’s a chance to break out. Do think you have nothing to offer to the club? Be assured we can find many worthwhile opportunities for your help.
Do you know another member who has not volunteered, but whom you think would be a good candidate to help out? Let us know and we will be glad to talk with them.
Normally we have a monthly board meeting, but on some occasions we may skip a meeting if there is no pressing business to conduct. Also, we rotate meeting locations to spread required travel evenly.
In the next day or 2, you will receive an e-mail from SurveyMonkey with a link to a nomination form (unique to you). Please click on this link and think about whom to nominate. Your response needs to be received within about 2 weeks (depending on when it is actually sent) to be counted, so please don’t delay. Filling out the form should be intuitive and SurveyMonkey will remind you if it doesn’t receive your timely response. Please look for this e-mail and think about whom to nominate. Send any questions to elections@niseiskiclub.org. We look forward to hearing from you.
Just kidding, no March Madness – but Go Warriors!
This year, March has a really important and unique day – PI DAY!!!! Math geeks rejoice!
This year’s Π day is a once a century event! This year, on March 14, 2015 at 9:26:53, we will have the a date and time that contain the first 10 digits of the irrational number, Π (PI) of 3.141592653 on Saturday, March 14: 3/14/15 9:26:53!!!!
For more info, see this Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi
| Part of a series of articles on the |
| mathematical constant π |
|---|
 |
Now, onto club business…
Membership Activity – For the month of February there were no new signups. Currently we have 94 members in the club.
President’s Message for March
Once again Mother Nature is giving all our snow away and dumping it on the east coast. That’s just wrong! Not only do we need the snow to satisfy our
skiing/riding pleasures now we’re destined to have another shortage of water later
in the year due to a weak snowpack. And due to the lack of snowfall we’ve had to
cancel the two weekend ski trips that were planned for February and March.
There is snow up at Tahoe but I guess everyone is waiting for the big dumps that
we’ve become accustomed to in the past years. I recently returned from three
days of skiing at Heavenly and Northstar and …
Read the rest of Armand’s message here: “March 2015 President’s Message“
Unfortunately, the 2nd of our weekend trips, scheduled for Mar 13-15 (encompassing Π day!) has been cancelled due to lack of interest, undoubtedly driven by the lack of snow. See Trip Director, Karen Soo’s report “NSC Trip Director Report“.
Have you ever envisioned yourself as a ski instructor? If so, this month’s Professional Ski Instructor of America (PSIA) is conducting a 6 day course at Heavenly Valley from March 29 through April 3 that could lead up to a Level 1 Ski instructor’s certification.
Interested? Then see “Become a Level 1 Ski Instructor“
~ President Armand Gutierrez ~
Once again Mother Nature is giving all our snow away and dumping it on the east coast. That’s just wrong! Not only do we need the snow to satisfy our skiing/riding pleasures now we’re destined to have another shortage of water later in the year due to a weak snowpack. And due to the lack of snowfall we’ve had to cancel the two weekend ski trips that were planned for February and March. There is snow up at Tahoe but I guess everyone is waiting for the big dumps that we’ve become accustomed to in the past years. I recently returned from three days of skiing at Heavenly and Northstar and would consider it the best snow conditions for the season. Of course, this follows on the heels of a good winter storm that dumped a lot of snow at the Tahoe resorts. Northstar and Heavenly opened up a few more runs, including a few advanced runs. With sunny skies and cold temps everyone on the slopes was in a joyous mood and having fun. Although it’s too late to schedule any weekend bus trips that doesn’t mean you should give up on the season. Find a few buddies and take a weekend trip up to Tahoe and enjoy the sunny skies and do some skiing and riding!
Nominations & Elections
In John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (1961) he said, “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” I like to think of that quote in terms of what can you, an NSC member, do for the club? Volunteers run this club, and without them this club would cease to exist, and it’s been in existence for over 50 years! In March, you will have the opportunity to nominate an individual for one, or more, of the board positions. All individuals that accept the nomination(s) will go through an election process in April, and final results in May. Ask any of the current board members and I’m sure they will tell you that by volunteering they get back more than they ever gave. By volunteering you will experience social benefits as well as provide a greater sense of self-worth, trust, and lots of fun. Many of you have served on the board in the past, and your efforts were greatly appreciated and perhaps you would like to join the board again. For those that have never served then perhaps now is the time to consider a board position and provide new ideas and useful experiences. Be sure to see the nominations material on the website and you will be getting an email so that you can fill out your nominations online.
BAC Newsletter
I’m always looking for ways to get our club in the press so we can get recognition as a ski club. Well, the March edition of the BAC Newsletter (http://www.skibac.org) is featuring our trip to Jackson Hole. I did submit the report to the National Ski Club Newsletter (NSCN) but unfortunately it was declined for publication since they already had a Jackson Hole report from last year. Oh well, there’s always next year!
~ Karen Soo – Trip Director ~
We had a great turnout at the Jackson Hole Week long trip with 75 people coming from as far as New York, Mexico and Hawaii. Unfortunately, the turnout has not been the same for the Nisei Ski Club weekend trips. We had to cancel both weekend trips for 2015 due to lack of signups and lack of heavy snowfall. We hope 2016 will be better.
Is the snow season really over? There are still 2 months of skiing left. A few of you were interested in a weekend trip via car. Let me know and maybe we can arrange something. There are lots of lift tickets available at Craigslist. So a weekend trip is do-able if we have drivers and place to stay.
Someone had told me that most of the black diamond runs were not opened on most resorts but it’s still good to be outside in the sunshine and ski nice groom runs.
If you’re already packing those skis away, NSC is planning an Alameda Bike in May and we are planning an event tour of Levi’s stadium.
June 7th, Sunday is “Free admissions” to the California Academy of Science. Let me know if you are interested. Due to the crowds, you do get to see one or 2 exhibits but its free and it’s a $35.00 savings.
If you have any ideas or like to get involved, please send us your positive thoughts. Remember, this is your club.
Ever dreamed of becoming a SKI INSTRUCTOR??? Well, here’s your chance!!!
The Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) will be conducting a 6 day course that will allow you to obtain a Level 1 Certification upon completion of all of the requirements.
The 6 day course will be held at Heavenly Valley from March 29 through April 3 2015.
Here’s an excerpt from their invitation:
The Professional Ski Instructors of America – Western Division is offering the opportunity for members of the public to participate in a 6-day program to learn how to become a ski instructor.
The 6-day program is for people who are not actively teaching at a snowsport school, but are interested in becoming a Certified instructor. The program covers information on skiing, teaching, movement analysis, and technical knowledge to meet our National Level 1 Certification Standards. Successful candidates receive a certificate of completion and then have 2 years to complete 20 hours of teaching to become a Certified Level 1 Instructor. …
Here are the details:
Feb 8
By Sandy Kiyomura
Did you know that as a member of the Nisei Ski Club, you could participate in BAC (Bay Area Council of Ski and Snowboard clubs) League races? The Nisei Ski Club can form its own team. There are races throughout the season at various resorts. Even if you don’t race, you can watch and get discounted (about 50%) lift tickets on race days.
Many people think you have to be a strong skier to race. That is not true (even I can race). You will race against people at a similar level, and there are 10 levels of skiers. Levels 1-4 are Advanced, 5-7 are Intermediates, and 8-10 are Novice. Within each level, racers are further divided by gender and age. There are juniors (under 18), adults are 19-49, Vets are 50-64 and if you’re 65 or over, you are a “Super Vet”.
There are three types of races: GS (giant slalom), Slalom and Super G. You may find that you do better at one type of race than another. I seem to be better at Slalom than GS. One will get points for placing in his/her category. These points are totaled for each club. In addition, there’s another category of “points per racer”. So if a team only has 2 racers and they always place first in their class, they can be at the top of that category.
On your first race, you will race as a Novice/Rookie. They will then determine your level by your time. Once you are placed in a level, you can move up to the next level by getting two strikes. A strike is determined as a certain percentage over the pace-setter’s time.
If you would like to try a race, look up the schedule at: https://sites.google.com/site/openleagueracing/. It is fun and you will meet people from other clubs. Ask you friends to join you and Nisei can form its own club. I would love to race for Nisei.
May the new year bring good health and prosperity to all, and MORE SNOW!!
Most of our club’s membership just spent a great week in Jackson Hole where we found abundant snow. Despite the fact that we missed a big snow dump by a few days, there was plenty of the white stuff and certainly much more snow than Tahoe has.
DON”T GIVE UP HOPE for TAHOE!! As I write these stream of consciousness babblings, the snow gods are gracing our Tahoe slopes with new snow with Northstar reporting 3 inches of new in the past 24 hours and 13 inches in the past 48 hours (as of Feb 8). More snow is expected to fall tomorrow in the Sierras – so there’s hope yet.
Did someone mention Jackson Hole?
Thanks to Armand, I had a BLAST!!! As I’m sure you did too! What more could you want? Plenty of snow, great variety of terrain from mild to heart stopping, huge verticals, cloud layers, inversion layers, a dusting of fresh snow, moose (mooses? meece?), good food, elk, dog sled racing, ice skating, cowboy bars and incredible company!!! I only regret that with such a large group, I didn’t get to meet all of you.
Click here for Armand’s Jackson Hole and Membership Report and don’t forget Armand “the Bard” February President’s Message.
N.B. – these pictures were taken in public places at
Thanks to all those who have contributed pictures and videos. Here are the links to them:
Individual pictures – click on each to enlarge
Do you have Walter Mitty dreams of being a ski racer?
Will you be the next Lindsey Vonn?
Well, your dreams and aspirations can come true!!! Our very own Sandy “Lindsey” Kiyomura is a veteran racer, at times reaching speeds faster than a speeding bullet!
Lindsey, I mean, Sandy, describes how you can be all you can be in her article here: “Open League Racing“.
And LAST but NOT LEAST, we had Jackson Hole ENGAGEMENT!!! Wes Lum from Hawaii proposed to Mariana Guerrero of Mexico! Talk about a Loooong Distance romance!
For those of us where weren’t lucky enough to witness the event, here you go:
Da Prez Armand Gutierrez
Welcome to the Chinese Year of Sheep (Wooden or Green)! Yes, the Chinese New Year starts February 19th and if you were born under the sign of the Sheep then you have a mild personality and are considered friendly.
2015 is here and January has turned out to be the driest January in recorded history. Although the Tahoe resorts remain open not all lifts and trails are open. I was up at Heavenly just before the ski week trip and there was only one black run open on the Nevada side, and all green/blue runs on the California side. Northstar did open up the Prosser black run on Lookout Mtn, but other than that it’s primarily the green/blue runs that were open. Skiing is probably good if you’re a beginner to intermediate but for you black diamond aficionados there’s not much to offer. Still, I’m hopeful we’ll get some snow in before or first weekend ski trip at the end of February.
Jackson Hole Ski Week
The Jackson Hole ski week trip turned out to be a really great trip and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Catch all the details in the Membership and Jackson Hole reports.
BAC Man and Woman of the Year
Once again it’s time to nominate an outstanding member, or members, for the annual BAC Man and Woman of the Year contest. This year I have nominated Karen Soo for Woman of the Year. Karen was selected because, as Trip Director, she ensures that the NSC weekend trips are well-organized, transportation and lodging are taken care of, and, if you’ve ever been on any of her trips, then you know there is quite a bit of work for ensuring everyone is well-fed on the trip up and back. In addition to her outstanding work as Trip Director, Karen also plays a pivotal role in organizing our picnics, the ski-week souvenirs, and is involved with the hikes and other events. Congratulations Karen for a job well done.
President Armand Gutierrez
Membership Activity
We had two members join up in January for the Jackson Hole trip. Yes, they were late signups but there was room for them on the trip. Currently we have 94 members in the club.
Jackson Hole Ski Week (24-31 January 2015)
Wow! What a week at Jackson Hole. There were 75 members on this trip and judging by the comments it appears to have been a very enjoyable and successful trip. Our flight out of SFO was on time and went without a hitch. In Salt Lake City we met up with several groups from the Sacramento and Albuquerque areas, and there were several members that opted to drive and were already in Jackson Hole.
The first three days of skiing was reminiscent of skiing Tahoe in Spring conditions. An inversion layer kept the base area in the high teens while tempts at the top of Thunder chair actually got as high as 60° F, which is most unusual for Jackson Hole during January. This lasted for several days and then we were blessed with a light snowfall on Tuesday evening. Yes, that meant a nice coat of 3″-4″ (more in some places) of fresh powder!
A number of people took Wednesday off to build up the local Jackson economy and to take in the National Elk Refuge on a horse-drawn sleigh. Of course, most members did make a visit to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, and our very own Dan Lew (newsletter editor) managed to get in some ice-skating in the town square.
The remainder of the week we had sunny to partly sunny skies and skiing was very pleasant. There were a couple of special events during the week- on Tuesday the Hawaiian Snowriders (members of our trip) held a memorial service for one of their fellow skiers that loved Jackson Hole and had passed away last year, AND there was a marriage proposal at the top of Bridger Gondola!! Yes, Wes Lum (from Hawaii) popped the big one to Mariana Guerrero (from Mexico). Needless to say there were tears flowing profusely.
Unfortunately, there were two accidents (one minor, one major). Kay Kamiyama had a fainting experience and fell forward onto the slope and incurred a slightly bloody nose and a scrape on her cheek. She was up and skiing the very next day. Curtis Otaguro suffered a dislocated shoulder while navigating the Tower 3 Chute (a black diamond). Although this happened on the last day of skiing it’s a sure bet that made the end of his ski season. Yes, for those that are counting I’m three for three now.
Our Farewell Dinner was held at the locally popular Mangy Moose and our group took over the top floor. During the Social Hour everyone was talking to everyone else, mingling and co-mingling, and then we got down to business of eating dinner. After dinner I gave my usual speech about the trip and last-minute announcements for departing the next morning.
During the week Greg Wong was busy gaining vertical feet and his concerted effort was rewarded with the 100K Vertical Foot pin. Meanwhile, Joe Feng and I finally reached the 500K vertical foot milestone and were rewarded with the 500K Silver Belt Buckle.
On our departure there was a little snafu at the Delta counter at the Jackson airport. Seems like their reservation system got overloaded with our whole group checking in at the same time and that sent the ticketing reps into a mild frenzy calling tech support. They finally were able to get all of us ticketed and we boarded on time and made our way back to SLC and SFO.
~ President Armand Gutierrrez ~
2015 is here and I trust that everyone had a Merry Christmas, a safe and Happy New Years celebration, and perhaps a few ski-related New Year’s Resolutions. Looking back at 2014, NSC had a good year with the Sun Peaks ski week, the weekend ski trips, a well-attended picnic, and a good showing at the hiking events. So what’s in store for 2015? Well, hopefully a good ski season with plenty of snowfall, the Jackson Hole ski week with 74 members that includes quite a few former members, two scheduled ski weekends, and whatever else the board can come up with for events.
One thing that I would like to see for 2015 is more events sponsored by the membership. Why more events? Well, events serve as a vehicle for bringing members together for having fun, sharing stories, and perhaps meeting new members. In years past (many years) the board consisted of members that would sponsor an event, which had to go through a number of approvals before posting a flyer in the newsletter. That was in the days when the NSC newsletter was actually in printed format. Now that NSC has an online newsletter it is much easier to get approvals for events and event flyers for posting on the website. So, I’m asking the membership for some volunteers to step up to the plate and sponsor an event. It doesn’t have to be a big event, but something that would bring together the membership and the board will certainly help you with logistics and notifications.
The Jackson Hole ski week trip is at the end of the month and hopefully everyone is ready for some great skiing. It would be to your advantage to get in a couple of days of skiing before the trip and get your “ski legs” ready. I certainly will be up at Tahoe before the Jackson Hole trip to break in my new skis/bindings and boots.
