Nisei Ski Club

Celeste Rogers

For those who have never gone fishing in their life, here’s the drill. I woke up at 3:30am to get ready to carpool with Greg Wong to Emeryville for a day of salmon fishing.  The trip cost $100.00 for a spot aboard the New Seeker that can hold 25-30 people along the perimeter of the boat.  It was early in the morning and the line to pay was out the door at the Emeryville Sport fishing office. I had to rent my fishing rod which costs $10.00 a day and a fishing license that contributed $14.30 to the California State Park.  I also participated in the “BIGGEST CATCH” $5.00 jackpot. A nice monetary reward for one lucky angler, who can bring home the biggest fish.

At 6 am we were on our way.  Out on the bay, with views of San Francisco and passing the Golden Gate Bridge. The ride through the Pacific Ocean was choppy and skies were overcast with no sun in sight.  The boat ride lasted 2 hours before the engine was turn off in the middle of nowhere.  With the boat rocking left and right and the smell of diesel fuel in the air, it was a perfect formula to make us throw up!!  Greg Wong celebrated his inaugural fishing experience with a huge “over the railing” throw up extravaganza. With his condition, he was able to catch a very large salmon and another one within legal limit (>20 inches long).

Captain Harry took us from one location to another in hopes of finding the perfect spot for salmon. We were only allowed 2 salmons per day. After the first fish bit my bait, I was not that interested anymore because I had to learn how to reel in the line quickly.  Then I had to learn to cast the line out around 32 feet from where I was standing. I had to make sure that the 2.5 lb. sinker is not released accidentally and not get tangled with the neighbor’s lines and bring up before the boat sped up. There was so much to do. At the bow, the line depth has to be staggered so that the lines do not get tangled too often with your neighbors.  Those at the stern of the boat had their lines down at 50 feet, an ideal place to stand to catch the fish. I was cold and miserable and no fish was biting my line.  The worst feeling was trying to hold down the nausea which was about to bubble over. I was wondering how long I can endure this torture while we were still so far from land.  Finally, I gave in and tossed my cookies. I was ready to fish again!!  Not only did I not catch any fish, just a few nibbles, but I lost 3 sinkers!!!  The sinker ($5 each) is released when the fish bites the bait!!!  Imagine all the lost sinkers at the bottom of the ocean. When a fish is “hooked”, the deckhand nets the fish and clubs it to death until it sees stars. The fish is then gutted and tagged so the rightful owner can claim his/her fish at the end of day. The bait itself is a tedious process. Pushing a long curved hook (J) from tail of anchovies on the hook’s head, not the sharp end and leaving the hook exposed.  The head of the bait has a nail thru’ the hook’s hole and rubber band tied to it!  That way the bait is secured and looks real!  The highlight for me was seeing some blue whales in the distance.  One came really close by and I took a 10 seconds video of it!  Imagine the huge ocean and a view of its back and tail.  I saw the blow hole on the head as it released the stream of water!  Awesome huge creatures!!!

With every NSC event organized by Karen Soo, you can be sure that this is a well-organized trip. Even though this is not an official NSC event, the well thought plan and information provided has the NSC stamp of approval. Tom and Karen thought of everything that a newbie fishing person like me needs to know. I learned very quickly what to do and how to do it.  Tom was very thoughtful and gave me sinkers and set up my fishing pole.  He was the first person to catch fish which resulted in winning the jackpot of $90.00.  / Not the Deadliest but the Biggest Catch.

Cheers, Celeste

HAPPY INDPENDENCE DAY!!!

Happy Birthday AMERICA!!!

Nisei Ski Club wishes one and all a safe & happy 4th!

Did you know July 4 is not really America’s Independence Day?  The Second Continental Congress voted to approve a “resolution of independence” on July 2, 1776 which declared the United States independent from Great Britain.  It was on July 4, 1776 that Congress debated and revised the wording and gave it approval on July 4.  In fact, John Adams, who was to become our second president, wrote the following to his wife, Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

John Adams ~July 3, 1776

BILLY BALL!!!  BASEBALL GAME  – BAC and NSC Baseball game Friday, September 14, Oakland A’s Vs the Orioles.  Mark your calendars now – more details to come.

 Even though it’s summer, it’s just the right time to plan for next year’s NSC week long trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for only $1200!!!

Hey NSC members and friends.

Below is a call for help from Ron Murata for the Mountain View Obon Festival on July 21 & 22, 2012.  Click on the links within Ron’s message to sign up or to get more info:

It’s a week and a half until our annual obon and bazaar.  We still  need volunteer help in all areas.

Here is a new link for help in the Dining Hall,   MVBT 2012 Obon Dining Hall Signup and http://www.mysignup.com/mvbtudon

Here are the previously announced links for help in:

• booth construction and setup  http://www.mysignup.com/1_booth_construction_and_setup_on_tue_wed_thur_fri_jul_17_18_19_20 
• manju making   http://www.mysignup.com/2_manju_making_on_wed_jul_18
• vegetable and beef preparation  http://www.mysignup.com/3_vegetable_and_beef_preparation_on_thur_fri_jul_19_20
• tempura booth   http://www.mysignup.com/5_tempura_booth_on_sat_sun_jul_21_22
•  beer booth http://www.mysignup.com/8_beer_booth_on_sat_jul_21
• **New Link ** post-bazaar take-down and cleanup   http://www2.mysignup.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?datafile=9_post-bazaar_deconstruction_and_cleanup_on_july_23rd_24th_25th

I just have a few comments about next year’s week long trip to Steamboat Springs.  I picked this destination due to its popularity and price.   At the Farewell Dinner of our Sun Valley trip last year, people wanted to go to either Snowmass or Steamboat.  Several other people mentioned Lake Louise/Banff.  Well, I priced all three trips and both Snowmass and Lake Louise came in near $1800.  Steamboat Springs came in at a much lower and reasonable price.

Steamboat was also ranked as the #8 ski resort in Ski Magazine 2011.

I know that people like to be within walking distance of the lifts, so I had several choices for lodging.  One place was 300 yards to the lifts, but it would have cost $300 more.  An alternative was about $150 more and only 200 yards from the lift, but online reviews of the place had me worried, there were numerous complaints about the beds and interiors.  So, I picked The Ranch instead.  Though it is only a 10 minute shuttle ride to the lifts, The Ranch is too far from the bus lines and in-town shuttles, so The Ranch has a private shuttle service.  In the morning and late afternoon, the shuttle loops from the ski resort to The Ranch.  Otherwise, it’s on call for grocery runs, shops, and restaurants in town.  Just keep The Ranch’s phone number programmed in your cell phone.  The Ranch is a nicer property and you get a private shuttle.

From the survey, the most popular souvenir is fleece.  This time, Karen said she’ll try to customize the orders for everyone.   I’ll get your general size and Karen said she’ll contact you for your color choice and double check the size as different styles may vary in cut.

I will not be adding additional lodging for this trip, so once it is sold out, I’ll have to put you on the waiting list.  The trip price is $1200 which includes airfare from SFO to HDN (a 35 to 40 minute shuttle ride from the airport to our lodging).  The ground only price is $800.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, Morgan Hua, at steamboat@niseiskiclub.org

Sign Up Form Here

~ byline, Armand Gutierrez~

President Armand at Chamonix, La France

Fourscore and seven years ago…Wait a minute, that’s already been taken. Let’s try this: Seven years ago I was nominated for the position of NSC President. Considering there were no other nominees it was pretty much a done deal. Fast forward to 2012. Once again I will be serving as your President for the 2012-2013 season. The difference this time is that this was more of a voluntary nomination. At last month’s NSC Board meeting our focus was on identifying who will be running the club. We discussed various options and everyone was amenable to maintaining his/her current position. However, Morgan decided that it was time for a change and that’s when I threw my hat into the ring, along with continuing my Membership Chairman position. I would like to thank the current board members for remaining “on board”, as this will make it easier to undertake the challenges NSC faces.

I’m sure everyone will agree that this past season was not the best ski season. Snow conditions were the worst I’ve ever seen in the 30+ years of skiing. It was a dismal sight seeing the Little Dipper mogul run at Heavenly covered with rocks and fallen trees, and this was in January! Many thought that the season was a bust, but fortunately the weather pattern changed and we did get decent, albeit not great, snow conditions for the rest of the season. However, due to the poor snow conditions it did force us to cancel several weekend ski trips.

Another casualty for last season was not participating at our traditional Chinese Chicken Salad event at Nikkei Matsuri, a first, after our many years of attendance. There were many factors that contributed to this but it was primarily the lack of volunteers to work the event. And this event does require a lot of work by volunteers.

Da Prez at Le Tour, Chamonix

At our first board meeting in June I’m going to present some ideas that I’ve had on the drawing board for the past year; all are designed in the best interest of NSC. Some will flounder, and some may flourish. NSC is a great ski club, and what makes it a great ski club are the club members. I’ve read the trip reports from skiers who went on our ski trips and a common thread was that NSC had the friendliest, most accommodating, and helpful members.

I’m looking forward to serving as President of this outstanding club for this year. But I’m only one person. There are a lot of dedicated people in this club and I think that is the club’s biggest asset. If you have any questions, concerns, or issues that need my attention, then I urge you to drop me a line and let me know. I know it’s only June, but I am already looking forward to the upcoming ski season!

~by Greg Wong~

I never thought that I would be skiing so much this late in the season.  The beginning of this year started out with so little snow.  I guess that is why so few people signed up.  They missed out on a good trip for a good price and with fresh powder. The snow started falling the weekend before, and continued for a week and a half.  We had 5 days of skiing and only 4 nights away.  Karen found us some great discount tickets of $35 for Sugar Bowl and $38 for Kirkwood.  I have not seen those prices in a long time.  Thanks Karen.    I signed up for this trip in December expecting a full bus. Only 20 sighed up, but there was only 14 on the bus.  14!!. The other 6 met us at Mammoth. We each had 3 rows upon which to spread out.  This is the way to travel.

The first day we were skiing at Kirkwood.  It was a quiet bus ride going to Tahoe. The 4 am pick up was a bit early but that is what you’ve got to do for a full day of skiing. The bus dropped us off in front of the lifts by 9am even with a pit stop to pick-up some snow chains.  The weather was overcast and the snow clouds were coming in. There were no lift lines on a Friday so we got in a lot of runs.  The conditions were packed powder, typical for Tahoe spring skiing.  It has been a while since I have been to Kirkwood.  Vail Resorts is buying them this year adding it to Northstar and Heavenly for their Tahoe holdings  Ticket prices will probably be going up next season but a season pass will let you ski all 3 mountains.   With a season pass I might ski Kirkwood a few times next year.  The snow began to fall just as we left the resort.  It was a cold northern winter front coming in.  We got out of Dodge without using chains.

The drive to Mammoth was scenic.  We did drive by a few spots a couple times going in circles.  David mentioned “Didn’t we just see that sign? ”  Dinner was served on the bus. All the dinners were cooked by the talented chef, Karen, on this trip..  She whipped up her culinary skills and served us Beef Goulash, Curry Coconut chicken, Chicken salad, and Tacos with special sauce as her entrees.  We did not have to eat out. Teriyaki burgers by Ikeda was the coming home meal .  The bus had to stop a few times along the road due to overheating.  We had a stop at a gas station to buy some antifreeze for the bus. It gave me and David a chance to buy a mega lottery ticket.  The jackpot was over $300 million. Maybe this might be my lucky week.  Even with all the delays, the bus made it to Mammoth in good time.  We checked into the condos next to the Eagle express lift and got a good night’s rest.

The first day at Mammoth was windy. The northern storm was just reaching  LA.  Frank, one of the locals with us was our tour guide.  He took us up to Cornice Bowl and we almost got blown away by the wind.  The wind was strong but had kept most of the snow in pretty good condition.  By the end of the day we had skied half the mountain. The second day, it was nice and sunny, although the snow got slushy by the end of the day.  Even with all the skiing we did, my roommate, Sidney, and I still went downstairs that evening to the rec-room to play Nitendo Wii ski.  Still couldn’t get enough skiing in.   The morning of the 3rd day at Mammoth I woke up to the howling of the wind and snow hitting the window.  Snow was falling fast.  I did not think we would get in a day of skiing.  By opening time, the wind had let up but the snow was still falling.  I could hear the sounds of the cannons going off.  3 to 5 inches had fallen overnight.  The upper lifts were closed.  Visibility was spotty but the snow was good.  We skied all morning.  After lunch, the lifts opened up and the sun came out. The snow condition was perfect.

The trip to Reno went a lot faster.  I think it took only 3½ hrs. to get there.  We made our deposits and went to bed.  Sugar bowl was very quiet on Tuesday. The snow began to fall again and we had the whole mountain to ourselves.  It was strange that after 4 days of skiing 10 of us decided to take a ski lesson that morning.  The last 4 days had so many different types of conditions we all wanted to know what we were doing wrong.  Sugar Bowl had free lessons on weekdays to get people to the resort.  Surprising they were very instructional.  The snow began to fall harder in the afternoon and the visibility became harder.  Everyone decide they had enough skiing for the trip and turned in early.

We got on the bus and left before the road chain requirements.  With this much snow, we were lucky  that we did not need the chains on the road the entire trip  By Sacramento the rain was coming down hard.  There were many accidents on the road but we made it home safely. The trip in all was great.  The only bad comment I could make was Karen’s movie selection of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”.

Now, for the important info.  Who won the left-right-center game?  I guess it has become a competitive event on our ski trips.  I didn’t think I could win this game or did I want to win?  The winner gets all the money, $60  in this case, but he has to write a new article.  Did I have a chance with the experienced Grady, the bus driver.  He has played every game that the club has played thus far.  Or Amy T, the enthusiastic player who holds her own tournaments and wins them.  We each started with 3 single dollars. We take turns throwing 3 dice and move each dollar to the direction of each cube face: giving the dollar to the Left person, or the person to the Right, the Center pot, or Keep it.  The noise level gets louder and louder as the game progresses. Sometimes the game gets so competitive that one time security got called for noise in Reno.  The first round I picked up the dice and threw. A left, a right, a pass came up  I was down to 1 dollar already.  Two more throws I was out.  I guess that was it but Rick to the left and Frank to Right were holding many dollars.  I still had a chance. After a few more rounds Grady and Amy were hanging in there with 1 dollar.  Being out does not mean that is it over. Luck has a way to bring you back in.  Each of us Amy, Grady and myself were each without any money but got back in.  As the rounds went by, I got back in with a dollar to stay in the game. When it came down to the final 4, It was Grady, Amy , myself and another whom I can’t remember.  Then it was down to 2.  Grady and me.  I threw first.  a Pass,   then Grady  a Pass.  I threw again.  Another pass.  Grady threw a Center Pot.  The game was over.  I had won left right center.  In the end lady luck was on my side.  I also won 2 dollars on the mega lotto ticket.

G-Man, the Money Man

~ Morgan Hua ~

The NSC year ends May 31.  If you renew your membership before May 31, there’s a $5 discount and membership will only be $25 instead of $30.  This membership fee covers the club’s fixed costs such as website hosting, insurance costs, storage of equipment, and other incidental costs.  According to the NSC Treasurer, the membership fee just about covers those costs.

The club had a difficult year due to bad snow conditions.  The weekend bus trip and the Mammoth bus trip were both less than half full.  The week long trip was still a success and is one of the mainstays of our club.

Here are some changes to the club for the coming year:

1. Because we lost so much money on the bus trips last year, we decided to have “at most” one bus trip next year and if that loses money, we will discontinue bus trips in the future.  The cost of the bus trips are beginning to approach the price of a plane flight, so we may offer weekend flights to out of state ski destinations such as Utah.  Fly out, ski two days, fly home, and go back to work on Monday — all for about the price of our bus trip.

2. No more hardcopies of the newsletter will be produced.  We were only sending hardcopies to eight people and six of those people have access to the internet.  The hardcopies required writing two versions of the newsletter:  one for the website and a pdf version which was printed.  Not producing the hardcopies removes the need to generate a pdf version of the newsletter.  On the website, you can see all the published articles here:  https://www.niseiskiclub.org/archives/archives/

3. No more pdfs of the newsletter will be produced.  See above.

4. NSC might not participate at Nikkei Matsuri.  We skipped Nikkei Matsuri this year and then to our dismay, we found out that the organizers of Nikkei Matsuri awarded the “Chinese Chicken Salad” booth to the Boy Scouts.  According to the Nikkei Matsuri organizers, the Boy Scouts will have the “Chinese Chicken Salad” concession until they give it up.  The good news is that since we’re not working Nikkei Matsuri, we aren’t using the Mt View Buddhist Temple’s kitchens for prep work, so we’re not on the hook for helping with the Mt View Obon.

5. NSC members may request copies of the annual treasurer report.  Just contact a board member and we can email it to you.  We felt the club finances were private to the club and its members, so we didn’t want to publish it on the web.

I’ve gotten quotes for our weeklong trip for 2013.  The prices for Snowmass and Banff/Lake Louise were above what we normally price our trips.  So, it looks like Steamboat Springs for 2013.  I will send out an electronic survey in a few weeks to see which airports people want to fly out of.  This will help me price and plan the trip.

You should have received an electronic ballot and survey for the NSC 2012-2013 Election.  We will announce the new board in the June newsletter.

Thanks for your patience this year and I hope next year’s snow will be better.

~Morgan Hua~

The NSC season is almost over.  We had a bad snow year.  Trip #1 went with only 20 passengers including the tour leaders.  Trip #2 had only 2 sign ups and so the trip was cancelled — too bad because that weekend had fresh snowfall.  The Mammoth trip also went with 20 passengers  — also snow dumped right before this trip.  The week trip to Sun Valley went with 33 people and we got great snow at Sun Valley.

NSC is a non-profit organization and we price our trips based on a full bus.  Both Bus Trip #1 and the Mammoth trip were less than half full and the club lost about $1500 on Trip #1 and $3000 on the Mammoth Trip.  The Sun Valley trip didn’t lose money.

The NSC board doesn’t know why so few people signed up for our bus trips this year, but we are hoping it is the lack of snowfall and it is not a continuing trend.  We have only 73 members this year and if we use our rule of thumb, 20% of the membership goes on the bus trips, 20% * 73 = 15 passengers.  So, it may not be the snow conditions, but a lack of membership.

NSC cannot continue to lose $4500 on bus trips and survive.

Next year’s board would have to figure out what to do.

But this year’s board has several ideas which we will discuss.  Such as:
1.  Reduce or make our membership free in order to get more members, so more people would go on bus trips.
2.  Eliminate bus trips and only have the weeklong trip.
3.  Designate specific Bay Area Ski Bus (BASB) trips as NSC trips.  Even volunteer to be the tour leader for those trips.  This way, NSC does not have the burden of losing money if the bus is not full; the burden falls on BASB.  BASB has offered a discount to NSC in previous years, we may take advantage of that if we do this.  But if we do get a discount, then the NSC membership cannot be free.
4.  Try to have 2 bus trips again next year and see if we get a better result.  One argument is that with fewer bus trips, we can try to fill the two trips and not lose money.  A counter-argument is that people only go on bus trips that fit their schedule, so having only 2 bus trips decreases the chance that someone will sign up for a trip, so in effect we would have even less people going on bus trips.  We tried this, this year, but we’re not sure if the result we got was due to the lack of snowfall.
5.  Create an online survey with a list of weekend dates.  If we get enough sign ups for a specific weekend, we can green light that weekend as a bus trip.  The main issues with this is that the bus company wants to know our schedule months in advance, so people will have to tell us which weekend they want to ski on months in advance too.  I know a number of people want to see the weather conditions first before signing up, so this might not work.
6.  If not enough people sign up for a bus, we can carpool.  Karen tried to get a carpool for the people who signed up for Trip #2.  We were able to get some people interested in going, but we had a lack of drivers and couldn’t carpool everyone up to Tahoe.

I would like to hear from the members this year.  If you have suggestions or comments, please send me an email at president@niseiskiclub.org

The NSC year is over at the end of May.  Right now, the board is operating with a skeleton crew.  When the board was larger, other board members volunteered to organize hikes, kayaking events, bike events, bowling events, Nikkei Matsuri, etc.  But with such a small board, we could only focus on running the ski trips.  So, we are also looking for volunteers for the board or even volunteers to just organize a summer event — you don’t have to be on the board to do so. If you are interested, please contact me at president@niseiskiclub.org.

One of this year’s Newbies,
Rick S. Dumlao

As a brand new member of the Nisei Club this year, I signed up for the Sun Valley trip as well as the trip to Mammoth Mountain.  I managed to avoid writing about the Sun Valley trip, but I feel I owe at least a few words now that I’ve been on two trips with the club.  I can’t say enough about the positive and friendly people of Nisei Ski Club.

I had a great time in Sun Valley with good snow that managed to dumped in the area just before our arrival.  There were club members arriving from as far away as New Mexico and Hawaii.  The mountain tour we had as a group was beneficial especially for a big resort.  There was something on the mountain for everyone as the club has a variety of ages and skills.  I’m impressed with the skill and positive attitude of the more mature members.  Because of my personal interest in flying, I was Read the rest of this entry »

~ Monsieur Armand Gutierrez ~

Curtis Otaguro and Armand Gutierrez, intrepid ski warriors from the Nisei Ski Club, made their assault on the fabled ski slopes of Chamonix. For six days straight these warriors explored all that Chamonix had to offer, including the daunting Vallée Blanche, which has its start from the Aiguille du Midi. This is their story.

Skiing Adventures

This trip started with a long, grueling flight from SFO to Zurich to Geneva, and then a bus ride to Chamonix.  Did I say grueling? Let’s see, we had to endure free wine, beer, headsets, blankets, pillows, and decent food on our first leg to Zurich. Let’s see if United, American, or any other domestic airline top that.

First stop was Brevant-Flegere. This is actually two resorts next to each other and accessible by a small cable car. Why Brevant-Flegere? That was where the first bus we caught was going. Chamonix has a free public bus system that takes you to all the ski resorts, and our bus stop was right across the street from our hotel (Hotel Alpina). Brevant is accessed via a gondola, which provides access to a variety of runs serviced by ski lifts. We soon discovered that Brevant was not a very big area and we found our way to a small cable car that led us to Flegere. Flegere was bigger, with more lifts, and a variety of Read the rest of this entry »

 March ~ 三月 ~ Mars ~ Marzo ~ Март ~ มีนาคม

March marks the beginning of Daylight Savings time in the US (except for Arizona & Hawaii).  Move your clocks ahead at 2:00 am on March 11

First & Only Weekend Trip—If you weren’t on the Heavenly trip, you missed a GREAT trip.  If the fear of the lack of snow kept many of you from signing up this year, your fears were unfounded.  Click  here >>>Yvonne Battaglia’s (pictured here) trip report<<<.

Trip 2 to Squaw & Alpine has been cancelled due to lack of signups – too bad, as conditions are now FANTASTIC, but don’t DESPAIR!!!  You can may still be able to go on the Mammoth long weekend trip.  Click here >> for Karen’s article << about signing up at this late date.

Armand’s Korner—Membership Activity.  The month of February was quiet as there were no new members for the month. This is fairly typical as we get into the later months of the ski season.  Our current membership still stands at 73 members.

Chamonix Ski Week—What can I say? I’m getting excited about this trip. Curtis Otaguro and I leave on the 9^th and we are looking forward to some grande adventures in Chamonix. I’m particularly excited about skiing Valle Blanc, which is led by a tour guide from the top of the Aiguillle du Midi.  How’s my Français? Not as good as my German once was. My experience with French goes back to my junior college days where I lasted one semester.  Other than skiing, there are day trips to various locations (Geneva, Aosta, Annecy), which are mostly for the non-skiers. However, there is a day trip for skiers: Verbier (Switzerland). I’ve skied many resorts in Switzerland but Verbier will be a first for me. If interested, contact Armand :  membership@niseiskiclub.org

Is Mother Nature Having a Mindlife Crisis? – byline: Karen Soo—Trip Director

We all know that this year is not exacting a whopping year of 10+ feet of snow in the Tahoe area.  We can probably hang up our skis/ snowboards and call it done for the season. I spoke to some people at the resorts and the last time we had a dry spell was in the early 70’s and snow actually started dumping in March and April. I was skiing on Memorial Day last year and NSC member David Muira was skiing on the 4^th of July  weekend. Are we ever going to get a repeat performance? Is Mother Nature simply angry? Read the rest of Karen’s Director Report here >>> Director’s Report <<<

Spring Hikes—Join Hoyt on March 11 for the first hike of the season around Stevens Creek Reservoir— click  here >>>Hoyt’s flyer <<< for information.

Manju Recipe—by popular demand, Jackie Maruhashi has FINALLY divulged her family’s long kept über secret layered manju recipe.  Click  this >>> recipe link <<< and wish Jackie luck as she has gone into a protection program for fear of retribution by the MMRPC, the Maruhashi Manju Recipe Protection Coalition.

MORGAN—President & CHAMPION!!! Morgan has qualified & has been invited to the NASTAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS in Winter Park.  Morgan is seeking out sponsorship from Marmot!!! – Hint Hint – Karen!!

~ Yvonne Battaglia – Monterey Ski and Social Club ~

WOW ! What a trip!  I definitely did not feel like a newcomer on NSC Trip 1. Karen Soo and her co tour leader Tom Lee made me feel right at home. Karen is so efficient and she is also gracious.  I just fill in the blanks on the sign up form on the internet site and I was on my way to Heavenly Valley.  So what if all my friends at the Monterey Ski and Social Club were going to the golf tournament. I had seen a Warren Miller film and I was ready.

I recently learned that Nisei means second generation.  Now that it’s the year 2012, the members subsequent are generation of skiers. These people were good friends and they have a common bond:  the love for skiing.  Additionally, they welcome newcomers.  I had hit paydirt.  I was going to learn how to ski in a welcoming environment.

Comfort food is part of the deal.  It turns out Karen likes to cook for a large group.  The price for the weekend transportation, lodging,  dinner and drinks on a luxury bus.  This was not fast food, it was hearty and satisfying. It included my version of a happy hour.  Beer with dinner.

On our way to South Lake Tahoe, the bus’s engine indicator light went into red warning mode. Grady, our bus driver pulled the bus over in a parking lot to check things out.  How funny it was when the guy from In & Out burger came out to the bus to ask us for our order!  45 minutes later we changed buses and we were off, DVD in, heading for snow, once again. Obviously, this group rolls with the punches, and we arrived at the Blue Lake Inn at 3am.  It’s just not like this group to complain.

We were up at 8 am.  Yes, there was some snow.  The gondola was only a block away.  Karen and Tom, purchased lift tickets for the group and a voucher for skiing lessons and equipment rental for me, the sole rookie.  The process seemed easy for her, even though thousands of dollars changed hands.

I did not see them again until that evening.  I was off to learn everything from snow plowing to stopping.  Heavenly had some very good instructors and a new lodge.  I was skiing in no time.  I did manage to fall on my tail bone. No cast for me though.   The tail bone injury wouldn’t really hurt until later.  It was interesting how I remembered things about skiing, I had learned from my teenage years.

The lodge was a great feature of my skiing adventure.  They had great refreshments, and you’re in the good company of skiers of all levels.  And the ever present ski movies in the background.  How ironic I would be watching the golf tournament in Monterey as I had lunch.

Some of the NSC members and I had dinner together in a nice local restaurant, called Freshies. http://www.freshiestahoe.com/  We talked about our day skiing among other things. This is a diverse crowd with many different interests.  We rewarded Grady our trusted navigator and driver with a well deserved dinner.  Some people allowed themselves a fried fish taco. After all, they did burn a few calories during a full day of skiing.

We recalled how there were flurries that day, but gorgeous scenery, and some good skiing.  Some of us took part in the night life.  Some went back to the motel to sleep, like my room mate Jenni Kanenda. Jenni was gracious and good.  She provided me with this very smelly, mentholated, ointment to provide relief for aches and pains.  Ironically, she would later injure her tail bone too.  A fine pair we would turn out to be. Later we would divide up the soaps and creams provided by the motel for our kids.

The take home message is this is a fun, gracious, incredible group of people with a passion for skiing. I pray the lack of snow this year, and the economy doesn’t affect the success of this club.  Anyone considering a ski club should give this group a try.  I credit them with my ability to say “I am a skier!”

~ Karen Soo – NSC Trip Director ~

We all know that this year is not exacting a whopping year of 10+ feet of snow in the Tahoe area.  We can probably hang up our skis/ snowboards and call it done for the season. I spoke to some people at the resorts and the last time we had a dry spell was in the early 70’s and snow actually started dumping in March and April. I was skiing on Memorial Day last year and NSC member David Miura was skiing on the 4^th of July weekend. Are we ever going to get a repeat performance? Is Mother Nature simply angry?

With 20 Nisei Ski Club members, Trip 1 to Heavenly did not cancel. This is our first trip of the season and we were all ready to go. Great food was served on the bus and we had great company. On our way to Sacramento, the bus engine light turned on and Grady felt the bus was not going to make it up the hill. Another bus had to be called in from Stockton and there was slight delay. We rolled into the Blue Lake Inn around 2:30am. At least there was no early spot time. We were only 1 ½ block walk from the Heavenly Gondola. Breakfast was served from the hotel and all I had to do in the morning was to get the lift tickets from guest services.

We met and left the hotel around 9:30am.  Most of us skied together on the groom runs because most of the black diamonds runs were closed. This is simply fine, since it was our first ski trip of the season. We need to wake up those legs carefully and not get hurt while doing so. The Blue Lake Inn was kind enough to give NSC a 2 bedroom suite. We had our après ski party there. There was plenty of beer and snacks.

Since I’m not a fan of Tahoe’s casino food or the casino buffet I decided to go to my favorite South Lake Tahoe restaurant called Freshies. http://www.freshiestahoe.com/

So many people are finding out about this gem that there’s usually an hour wait. At 6:00pm,  we got 12 people interested in going to Freshies.  How are we going to get there? I asked Grady, our bus driver to join us for dinner and see if he can drive the 12 of us there. He had no problem with this plan. There was plenty of parking for the bus and we only waited 45 minutes for our tables. We all sat separately because Freshies is a small place. The group treated Grady for dinner. A thank you for taking us, plus he is such a cool guy.

The next day, everyone checked out of their rooms and met for a full day of skiing.

Basically all of us skied the full day and returned for après ski at the suite at the end of the day. We departed at 5:00pm.

The drive home was smooth and quick. Some chatted about their day and some took a nice nap while we rolled down the hill on Highway 50. We served dinner rather quickly since there were only 20^th of us. It definitely makes my tour leading job easier.

We took home some great memories of skiing together.

We have to cancel Trip 2 due to lack of sign ups. The Mammoth trip is still happening, March 23 – March 27, 2012.  The bus is not full so we can try to accommodate last minute hop-ons. Of course this is not the order of how we run our ski trips. Everyone is hurting for business so these accommodations can be made.

I hear snow is falling this week. So you know where I’ll be. I’m going to wear test some Marmot clothing and enjoy the runs. Ciao!!!

Billions have begged for Jackie Maruhashi’s LAYERED MANJU recipe.  Her manju was a phenomenal hit at the Sun Valley potluck.  So, by popular demand, here’s her über scret recipe!  Happy baking—remember, practice SAFE baking – do NOT bake while naked.

Layered MANJU
~ from Chef Jackie Maruhashi ~

½ lb. butter
2 ½ Cups flour
¼ Cup sugar
¼ Teaspoon salt
¼ Cup + 2 Tablespoons condensed milk
1 can Koshi or Tsubushi (Red Bean)
1 egg (beat & brush on top of dough)

1. Cream butter
2. Combine dry ingredients & mix with butter alternating with condensed milk.
3. Divide dough in half & place half in 8”x8” pyrex dish.
4. Evenly spoon red bean on top of tough
5. Crumble remaining dough on top of the red bean.
6. Brush top with beaten egg.
7. Preheat oven & bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done

Chef Jackie’s Tip: – I doubled the recipe for the Sun Valley potluck but did not double the red bean paste since I like the recipe with only a hint of red bean.

Tour Leader wearing new outfit

We had a great trip to Sun Valley.    Eighteen inches of fresh powder arrived before us.  Even though the weather reports kept on warning about snow showers, there was sun shine every day.  There were three days of great sunshine and the other days consisted of morning snow and afternoon sun and blue skies.  There was great skiing every day.

Sun Valley is the plushest resort I’ve ever been to.  The lodges were fantastic and the food tasty.  The cleanest and classiest bathrooms of any ski resort I’ve ever been to.  The staff are the nicest people I’ve ever met.  Service is great here.  If you have unused lift ticket days, you can trade them in for massages, hair cuts, souvenirs, and meals.  Amazing.

On Sunday, we had a Welcome Reception.  Unfortunately, it was scheduled at the same time as the 49ers game.  So only a handful of us showed up for the free cheese and wine party.  Our table was the loudest as we missed winning every raffle prize by only one number.   Afterwards, I went to the free “Forever Plaid” musical comedy and enjoyed the show.

On Monday, we had a potluck and there was lots of good food.  I’d like to thank Edna and Haruko for organizing the event.  Someone thought I was gluten intolerant and they had arranged to make the dishes edible by me.  The funny thing is, I have no food allergies.  I can eat anything.  Wonder where that rumor started from?  Though gluten free, I can testify that all the food was delicious.

Sleigh Ride and Dinner (click to enlarge)

On Tuesday, we took a Sleigh Ride to the Trail Creek Cabin and ate at the hideaway for movie stars.  The Sleigh Ride took us through quite woods and past the Hemingway Memorial.  I had one of the best Prime Rib steaks ever.  David told me that the steak must have been really good because it was rare that his wife Mimi would eat that much steak — only one person took home a doggie bag and it wasn’t Mimi.  Rick joined our club and thought he knew no one in the club, but at dinner, he found out that both Dave and Peggy were his classmates at Mountain View High.  Small world. Several people had Hot Toddies for the Sleigh Ride home.  We got free movie tickets for eating at the Cabin.

On Wednesday night, a number of us went to see Hugo at the Opera House using the free movie tickets.  Before they played Hugo, they showed several ancient promotional films for Sun Valley.  At one point, movie stars rode horses 2-1/8 miles to the Trail Creek Cabin to get away from the prying eyes of the public.  Wow, talk about circular self-references: Cabin – Movie  – Cabin – Movie Stars – Cabin.  Luckily the movie about movies started.  Hugo is really for movie history buffs and movie lovers, not a kids movie that it is advertised as — I think the slow pace wouldn’t keep kids interested.  Having taken a few film history classes myself, I loved the movie.   By now a number of us figured out how to walk back to our condos.  It’s either a 6 minute walk or a 10 minute wait for a van to drive us to our condos.

Farewell Dinner (click to enlarge)

On Thursday, we had a free NASTAR race and because it was snowing heavily in the morning, only 9 NSCers raced.  We got 5 medals though.  By noon, we had blue skies again.  I had lunch with Jim and Janice at the Roundhouse Lodge.  They shared part of their Fondue with me.  I scraped off the crusted bottom — yum.  I also had my very first taste of Spaetzle.  The Lodge had a four sided fireplace and beautiful views.  In the evening, we had our early Farewell Banquet (Janice was leaving Friday, so I had decided to have our dinner on Thursday).  A few days ago, I had visited the Sun Valley Heritage and Ski Museum and found that Hemingway was a long time resident and had written parts of Farewell To Arms in the Sun Valley Lodge, in room 206.  If the room is vacant, they let you tour it.  It took me two days of trying to get access.  It’s the little surprises that amaze me.  I was delighted when Joel, on behalf of everyone, presented me with two books on Hemingway as a Thank You gift.  Joel had given me a heads up before the trip and I had already purchased a new Marmot Jacket and Pants — so I had already spent the money Joel was going to collect.  But Joel was still able to surprise me with those books and several other additional gifts.  Thanks Joel and Thanks to everyone that had gone on the trip — otherwise I would have been skiing naked.

The Most Dangerous Run (click to enlarge)

On Friday, we had sunny skies.  I took Sandy to some of my favorite runs at Sun Valley.  We went on runs of every color from green to black, from cruisers to moguls.  I took her through the Red Headed Woodpecker.  Sandy said it was “The most dangerous run in Sun Valley.”

The only hitch was our early departure on Saturday and the freezer box bus ride.  I’m currently working with our tour company and the bus company in getting some restitution for those involved.

Nevertheless, it was a wonderful week.

If you have links to photos or pictures of the trip you want to share, please send them to me or the newsletter editor.

新年快樂
Happy Year of the Dragon!

SUN VALLEY ADVENTURE Jan 21-28

A gaggle of hearty NSC skiers & boarders descended upon Sun Valley with its fresh snow that is lacking in Tahoe.  A great time was had by all as described in Morgan’s trip report in this issue.

Click here for the full report>>

Sun Valley Race Results
It was snowing on Thursday, 1/26/2012, the day of the race and a number of NSC members decided to take the day off.  Only 9 NSCers raced, but we got 5 medals.

Name, Time (sec), Medal

Male Skiers:

Greg Foraker               22.97  Silver
Morgan Hua                 23.44  Bronze
Jim Sanchez                 23.74  Silver
Lansing Lee                 24.26  Silver
Greg Wong                   27.74    –

Female Skiers:

Barbara Foraker         29.04 Bronze
Katherine Altemus     30.49    –
Janice Melena             47.49    –

Male Snowboard:

Rick Dumlao               31.96     –

Pacesetter:                            17.61 sec

Where’s the Rain? – Karen Soo – Trip Director

Happy New Year! Kung Hey Fat Choy! The holidays are over, I’m back from my business trip to Hong Kong and now we welcome the Year of the Dragon.

Trip 1 is happening next weekend. If you are interested, please send me an email: tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org There’s still room on the bus.  Click >> here << to read  my Director’s report!

Mammoth long weekend trip Didn’t make to Sun Valley?   See the flyer for the long weekend trip to Mammoth Mountain! Click >> HERE << tab for more information!

Armand’s Korner—The month of January saw two returning members, which now brings us to 72 members.  This is typical for the beginning of a new year since most returning members signed up before the weeklong trip and the weekend trips. Although there is snow up at Tahoe conditions are still not to normal levels. I suspect we need a few more “snow dances”.

Chamonix Ski Week -The Chamonix ski week currently has about 160 participants for this trip. In particular there is an opening for a female roommate, plus a few other spots are also available.  If interested, contact Armand :  membership@niseiskiclub.org

Congratulations to Maia & Alex Shibutani, earned the silver medal at the 2012 Figure Skating Nationals on January 28, 2012!!!  Your’s truly met this incredible ice dancing brother & sister team who are competing in their first year at the senior level!