Errata – corrections in the description of Toby’s NZ accident

September brings the close of summer and this August makes the close of an era, notably the passing of one of Nisei Ski Club’s founding fathers, Tatsuo “TATS” Sumida who passed away on August 14.

President Armand pays tribute to Tats in his monthly president’s message in addition to his membership and Sun Peaks report. Also in this month’s edition are Hoyt Nelson’s dedication to Tats as well as former NSC president April Shiro’s recounting of the honouring of Tats at NSC’s 40th anniversary.

On another very serious, albeit less grave, note, Toby Kravet, president of the Hawaii Ski Club whose members frequently attend our week long snow trips, was involved in a very serious skiing accident  in New Zealand recently. He was skiing ALONE and had to survive a frigid night until he was found with two broken legs! Read Armand’s cautionary article entitled >>Skiing Alone<<.

LESSON to be LEARNED? DO NOT SKI ALONE!!! 

On lighter notes,  click here >> Bernal Heights Hike << for pictures and reporting of last month’s Bernal Heights hike led by the intrepid Hoyt Nelson and this link >> Thanks & Dance Invite << for thanks of gratitude from the Mountain View Buddhist Temple and an invitation to their “Oh What A Night” dance on October 10. And last but not least, sign up for the Sun Peak’s week long ski trip.  The September 15th deadline will soon be upon us.  Join the 19 members who have already signed up.

Back to a more serious note, Toby Kravet, the president of the Hawaii Ski Club whose members frequently attend our week long snow trips, was involved in a very serious skiing in New Zealand recently. He was skiing ALONE and had to survive a frigid night until he was found. Read Armand’s cautionary article entitled >>Skiing Alone<<.

LESSON to be LEARNED? DO NOT SKI ALONE!!! 

Until next month, have fun, stay safe, practice random acts of kindness!

~ Armand Gutierrez, Da Prez ~ 

Are thoughts of snow and skiing entering your mindspace yet? Well, it IS September and the annual Snow Bomb Ski & Snow Festival is all ready getting ready for their festivities at AT&T Park on 9-10 November and in San Jose on 23-24 November. Volunteer sign-ups will be coming soon. So farm Karen Soo is planning on attending the ATT festival and I’m planning on attending the San Jose festival. If you’re interested in attending then send a note to either Karen (tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org) or me (president@niseiskiclub.org). 

Got your dancin’ shoes ready? The Mountain View Buddhist Temple wants to thank the NSC Obon Festival volunteers for contributing to its success and has invited the NSC membership to their “Oh What A Night” Dance, to be held on October 19th.  There will be live 60’s and 70’s music provided by Somethin’ Else. Details are provided in the flyer. 

We’re closing in on the September 15th deadline for the Sun Peaks ski week trip. We currently have 19 people on board and there’s still plenty of room for signups so what are you waiting for?

In Memorium

Normally these President’s Messages are not too difficult to write with discussions on volunteer events, ski topics, and our updates on the weekend and weeklong ski trips. However, this month’s message had the added dimension of informing the membership of the passing of Tatsuo Sumida on August 14th. “Tats”, as he was affectionately called, passed away peacefully at the age of 85. For many of the newer members not familiar with the history of NSC, Tats and Hi Fujii were co-founders of the Nisei Ski Club, which was an offshoot of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in the 1950s. Unfortunately, the board and other members of NSC learned of his passing too late to inform the membership to attend his service, which was held on August 24th. For additional information please read the thoughtful write-up by Hoyt Nelson and former president, April Shiro’s recounting of Tats being honoured at NSC’s 40th anniversary.

Membership + Sun Peaks Ski Week Report

We are sad to relate that one of the main founders of the Nisei Ski Club, Tats Sumida, has recently passed on. Tats was an avid skier while a member of the JACL and formed a group of skiers in the early 1950s that eventually became the Nisei Ski Club. A donation in the name of the club has been sent in memory of Tats. Unfortunately, we did not get this information in time to attend his service. His obituary is reprinted below. If anyone has information relating to Tats that you would like to share in the newsletter, or would like to make a donation to the family, please contact the editor at newsletter@niskeskiclub.org.

Obituary Tatsuo C. Sumida, age 85, (born May 17, 1928 ed.) passed away peacefully on August 14, 2013. Tatsuo’s childhood roots were in Los Angeles, which he left for Berkeley. He graduated from the Cal Business school – GO BEARS!! Tatsuo was a teacher for many years at George Washington High School- BEAT LOWELL! Downhill skiing, tennis, swimming, traveling and meeting people were just a few of his favorite pastimes. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Yoko, daughter Lynn and her husband Duke, daughter Ann and her husband Ted and grandchildren Trent and Erika. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2013-11:30 am at Halsted N. Gray-Carew & English Inc. 1123 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94109. – See more at: http://www.halstedngray.com/obituary/Tatsuo-C.-Sumida/San-Francisco-CA/1235273#sthash.k3ezQ1Kp.dpuf

EVOLUTION  DEDICATION
TATS SUMIDA

A Survey was sent to the Past Presidents  in January.   They were asked who they would dedicate the 40th Anniversary  ‘Evolution’ to.  Without a doubt, Club Founder,  Tats Sumida was a favored  choice with comments such as  “He’s the Man!!!”.

Past President April Shiro shares some history with us.

“Back in the 1950’s, there weren’t a lot of skiers around and Tats Sumida loved to ski. Tats wanted to go skiing and he wanted to get a lot of other people skiing. He started the JACL Ski Club but that didn’t quite work out so he started his own club with some friends. Since most of them were Nisei, they decided to call it the Nisei Ski Club.

They would get together and decide where they wanted to go, Tats would arrange for the bus transportation and tour lead the group. They even made trips to Mount Shasta and Sun Valley by bus and those buses didn’t have restrooms on board! Arrangements had to be made periodically for rest stops.

Gradually, the club grew and grew and Tats Sumida continued to make the  arrangements for the ski buses, collect money for the ski trips, send out confirma­tions, and deal with last minute problems, He had to start recruiting tour leaders because he started a family of his own and it had been decided that Nisei Ski Club members had to be 21 years of age or older. It didn’t matter to Tats. He took his family up skiing but fortunately for the Nisei Ski Club, Tats kept on making the arrangements for the club bus trips up until 1990. Tats was a school teacher in San Francisco so he did have another full time job! He had connections with the Greyhound Bus company. 

Tats worked tirelessly for the Nisei Ski Club, I know all the members that knew him think the world of him. Tats Sumida made it easier for us all to go skiing.” 

It is with great pleasure that we dedicate ‘Evolution’ to TATS SUMIDA. 

Thank you, Tats, for making the Nisei Ski Club for  us!

~ Celeste Rogers ~

Can you imagine being in a tree house with the city of San Francisco at your feet? That was the first thing we saw on Saturday as we trooped out of Hoyt’s van. The Tree house (next to our meeting place) is in a huge redwood patio equipped with a nice sized BBQ grill, lots of potted plants and interesting garden sculptures such as a bench shaped like a long tortoise.

Bernal Heights is a large rocky hill south of the Mission with a radio tower on top. Some of us dutifully and meditatively walked a nearby rock labyrinth while we waited for the rest to gather around for a group picture taken by Karen Soo.

We set off to climb a few steep stairways – from a few steps to about 100, some winding and some through community gardens. Some streets have cars parked 90 degrees to the streets that were so steep you felt a slight push could tilt them over.

As usual, San Francisco is beautiful, with blue skies, some patches of clouds and fog blowing in from Golden Gate. As much as we sweated from the steep stairs, it was not all that tiring since the cool breezes invigorated us. Trees were flowering with red flowers, community gardens laden with tomatoes, vegetables, garden flowers, profuse bougainvillea and many “ Naked Ladies” – the flowering plants, in case you are wondering. Some eucalyptus trees were so fragrantly swaying in the breeze that it felt good to be alive.

Along the way, we had time to be a kid again sliding down a long, dual metal slide using floor mats, jackets, cardboard or just plain jeans.

After some more arduous stairs – probably more than a thousand, we snacked and rested while being rewarded with a sweeping view of the Golden Gate Bridge on the far left and Downtown SF on the far right.

Soon, we were back near where we started, but were told that we had done only the first half. As we started the second half, we passed a few patches of bushes laden with blackberries ( but only a few worth picking). We stopped to admire a blue house with many water fountains in front, made out of discarded watering cans, buckets, funnels, milk containers, sinks and pumps. I am not sure which was more attractive of the two: the trickling water sounds or the creative water fountains, but we stayed a while to enjoy them.

One of my two guests, Johann, (born in Russia, but lives in Germany) proudly pointed out to me that a German was the brains behind Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) that had created some of the gardens we passed. Johann was unexpectedly glad to meet and talk (in Russian) with another of our hikers named Ann who was also Russian!! Hoyt was delighted with the meeting!

After one of the last and steepest climbs I turned back, I saw a view of SF that was worth all the huffing and puffing. It reminded me of the many uneven steps, dirty and unsafe surroundings in Rio de Janeiro and how lucky that SF has these stairs that are evenly spaced, with hand railings and flowers and shady trees and without animal poop littering.

Ending the hike, I raced up the Bernal Heights Summit and was out of breath but managed to take a quick video of the awesome 360 degree view.
As usual, Hoyt’s hike was amazing and showed us places in SF that we don’t know about- a hike with wonderful people to chat, catch up and share food with, rewarding views that never fail to fascinate, and a delicious Peruvian lunch to top it off.

A very wonderful way to spend a Saturday!! Cheers, Celeste Rogers (with a few edits by Hoyt)
Thank you, Hoyt!!

Have you ever been cruising along a run and looked off to the side to see some nice glade skiing? Or how about venturing off the main run to head into the trees to poach some untracked powder? I have, and many times was tempted to jump into some sweet skiing without crowds or other people only to remind myself not to go it alone. When skiing I always like to apply what I call the “scuba diving” rule: always have a partner. Yes, the fresh powder may be tempting but if you should fall and get injured no one may be around to help you. I raise this issue because here is an email that I received from fellow skier Sandy Kiyomura:

hi Sandra,

bad news.  I hear that Toby is really laid up and I’m hoping he wont be disabled.  One leg has been operated on, but the other is shattered and they’re waiting for it to stabilize before they operate on it.  It’s a good reason not to ski alone.  I don’t know how to contact him since he hasn’t replied to any emails.

I dont know how we’re going to run the ski club since Toby has been doing mostly everything like the newsletter and the financial problems by himself.

How are you doing?  where are you going skiing this year?

Cathy

Below is an excerpt from MENAFN.COM (Middle East, North Africa, Financial Network):

Skier survives freezing night in mountains of New Zealand

MENAFN – – 8/20/2013 1:43:59 PM

Skier survives freezing night in mountains of New Zealand

Aug 20, 2013 (Menafn – The Honolulu Star-Advertiser – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) –A 72-year-old Hawaii skier suffered two broken legs, then survived a night in the frigid mountains of New Zealand by fighting to stay awake and exercising his arms to avoid hypothermia, a New Zealand newspaper reports.

Kamehameha Heights resident Toby Kravet, president of the Hawaii Ski Club, “lives for skiing,” his friend Geof Chu told the Star-Advertiser. “He goes every year to New Zealand. This is a yearly ritual for him.”

While skiing alone Sunday at Treble Cone resort, South Island’s largest slopes, Kravet got lost, and police expressed “grave concerns” when he missed his bus back to Queenstown, The Press reported online Monday at stuff.co.nz.

A helicopter search using night-vision equipment failed to find Kravet that night, and the search resumed at daybreak Monday….

Full article: http://www.menafn.com/8b4bad40-702d-4cfb-b8b3-6e721bc150fa/Skier-survives-freezing-night-in-mountains-of-New-Zealand?src=MWHEAD

I would like to thank you and the members of Nisei Ski Club for supporting the Mountain View Temple’s 2013 Obon and Bazaar.  The preparations leading up to and including the Obon and Bazaar week-end were very busy and the help of many volunteers was a key element in the event’s success.

Thank you again on behalf of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple,

Ron Murata,

Volunteer Coordinator

the MVBT ABA invite Nisei Ski Club to come out and dance the night away on Oct 19th to the live music of “Somethin’ Else”