Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

The first rains have appeared and snow has been falling in the Tahoe area. Although the early snowfall has only resulted in a slight dusting of that fine, white powder at least it’s a start for what hopefully will be a good winter season. If you’re a seasoned ski veteran then perhaps you can identify the ski resort in the picture (hint: it’s in California). Drop me a line (president@niseiskiclub.org) if you think you know the answer.

Click for a larger picture

Coastal Cleanup

Under the guidance of Judy Hom, members of NSC hit the beach armed with buckets and gloves and convened on Crown Beach to pick up litter and trash. Thanks go to Karen Soo, Sandy Kiyomura, Curtis Otaguro, and Winston Fong for helping to keep our bay area clean and a job well done!

September Pizza Social

The September Pizza Social at The Garret was well attended and everyone had a great time. Fortunately The Garret wasn’t that crowded and we were all able to sit at a big round table and enjoy pizza and beer. Although the intent was to watch a football game most of our time was spent discussing a variety of topics, some NSC-related and some not related. I’m hoping to turn this into an annual event with a Pizza Social for Week 1 of the football season.

Halloween Party

Halloween is this month and that means witches, goblins, and all sorts of creatures of the night. Dave Schultz will be your tour guide to a big neighborhood Halloween party so be sure to read his article.

SnowBomb Shows in October/November

The annual SnowBomb shows are coming up this month and November. The San Jose show will be on October 29^–30 and the San Francisco show on November 5^–6.  We’re looking for volunteers to support the BAC booth at both locations. As a volunteer you get free admission to the SnowBomb event, talk with people about the various clubs that are part of BAC, and do some self-promoting of NSC. Arrive early, or stay later, and visit the other ski-related booths or perhaps pick up something at one of the retail booths that have discounted prices on ski gear. If interested then drop me a line (president@niseiskiclub.org) or Karen Soo (tripdirector@niseskiclub.org).

Snowmass Ski Week 2017

The Snow mass trip is full with 65 signups. This is way more than I was expecting but I’m glad to have such a great turnout for this trip. There is a wait-list for those that are still interested in going on the Snowmass trip.

Karen Soo, Trip Director

Fall is just around corner just as the days are starting to get shorter. I’m not ready to put my golf clubs away but it’s a good time to think about the upcoming ski season. Now is the time to inspect your ski and snowboard equipment and see if there are gouges and scratches that needs to be taken care of. Your equipment deserves a good yearly tune up. Check your local ski shops for early tune up discounts.

Our Snowmass weeklong trip is wrapping up its planning stage with Armand leading the pack. There are 64 attendees. While he is finishing up with that, I’ve been planning our weekend trip for 2017.

Save the Date – March 3-5

NSC is planning a bus trip to the North Shore – Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows – Dates: March 3 -5, 2017

If you’re on the Snowmass trip and have the Mountain Collective pass, you will be able to use your pass on the weekend trip.

The good thing about our weekend trip is that cost will be the same as 2015/2016. Please sign up early or give me a verbal. We need 36 people to make this trip happen. If you have friends that are interested in a weekend trip, please bring them along.

We are planning one bus trip for 2017. Surely, we can plan some other weekend car trips.

We will go up during BAC race weekend. NSC can get discounted tickets on those race days. The race schedule is not available yet. As member of the Bay Area Ski Council, we are eligible to get the discounted lift tickets as low as $65.00 per person and you don’t have to race.

Other Trip Possibilities

Another possible weekend car trip to Squaw Valley is to see the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Down Hill races on March 11-12 weekend. Olympic champions Julia Mancuso, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin will be on hand for the Giant slalom and slalom races.

Mammoth anyone? Ski 3½ days with condo lodging. Again, you can use your Mountain Collective pass here. Please let me know you are interested and if you are available to drive.

We can make it all happen if there are interests out there.

Snowbomb Schedule

Snowbomb is coming to the bay area.

• San Jose: Convention Center
• Oct 29 – 30, 2016
• San Francisco: Fort Mason
• Nov 5 – Nov 6, 2016
• Sacramento: Cal Expo
• Nov. 12-13, 2016

We would like to welcome volunteers to promote our club and talk about our weekend bus trips. You can help out for 2 to 3 hours and get free admission to the show. Sorry as volunteers, you will not be eligible for any free lift tickets.
Please email me if you are interested in helping out – tripdirector@niseickiclub.org.

A Date with Warren Miller

Warren Miller’s new movie called Here, There & Everywhere is coming to the South Bay on November 19th at The Heritage Theatre in Cupertino, 6:00pm showing.

Tickets are $21.00 per person and free swag, like 2 for 1 lift tickets to Squaw Valley/ Alpine will be given out to each ticket holder.

Let me know if you are interested. Maybe we can get a group together and have some pizza and beer afterwards. Armand is buying the first round.

Shopping at Amazon?

If you need something from Amazon.com, check out Amazon through our website at the Nisei Ski Club Website. Our club will get a small percentage from your purchases.

Discounts for Seniors

Looking for some discounted outdoor gear? All you have to be is 50 + and over and sign up at Senior Skiing. Check it out at www.seniorsskiing.com.

On the right side of their website you can sign up for the Promotive deals. ProMotive.com is the online community for industry experts and influencers — matches Qualified ski members such as yourself with top brands offering exclusive discounts on all your favorite gear.

We’re looking forward to a great season. If you have ideas for a great season, let me know.

Karen aka Trip Director for how many years now?

Dave Schultz

Yes, the party is on and it’s a big one. There is a big Halloween party in the San Jose Alum Rock area. It occurs over 6 square blocks, bordered by Toyon Avenue, upper Golf Drive, Pepper Tree Lane, and Tallent Avenue. Most of the homes in that area will offer candy at the door. Some will have “fun houses” or “haunted houses” set up on their lawns or in their garages. At the top of Golf Drive (just before the condos at GolfView Drive), is a booth run by the condo dwellers, where they serve soft drinks, hot drinks, beer and wine, and more candy. Most people visiting this block party will be in costume.

Let’s meet at my old house around 7pm, which is 3972 Golf Drive (about four or five houses up from Toyon Avenue). It’s typically cool on Halloween night, so a warm (but not hot) costume may be beneficial.

Rather than trying to park near my house, it may be easier to park on lower Golf Drive or on nearby Richardson Drive (below Toyon Avenue). There will be a lot of kids on all the streets in the block party, so be extra careful if you drive on those streets.

Feel free to contact me at 510-512-6441 or email me at dave_schultz28@hotmail.com with any questions.

Frank Chang
On Sunday September 11th, the NFL capped its first weekend of the 2016-17 season with Sunday Night Football in Arizona. Meanwhile, the NSC kicked off our 2016-17 season with a Pizza Social at The Garret in Campbell, CA. True to the description in Armand’s invitation, we all did “gather around, quaff a few ales, dine on outstanding pizza, and watch New England and Arizona battle it out on the turf.” Eleven club members attended this event. Armand went early and saved the biggest round table in the place so that all of us could sit around the same table. Topics of conversation ranged from the upcoming Snowmass trip, to the Patriots v. Cardinals game (most were rooting for Arizona), to the Monday night 49ers game at Levis stadium (Go Niners!), to individual stories of our experiences with general anesthesia (don’t ask how we got to this topic…). A good time was had by all! Thanks Armand for organizing what we hope will continue to be an annual event.

Judy Hom

The California Coastal Cleanup is part of the Ocean Conservancy’s international cleanup effort. On the 3rd Saturday in September, people join together at all sites around the world to pick up litter and trash from beaches, lakes, and waterways. This year, 5 volunteers from Nisei Ski Club assisted with the cleanup of Crown Beach in Alameda. This effort is part of NSC’s community service work.

Karen, Curtis, Sandy, Winston, and I got out to Crown Beach would 8:30am. Armed with gloves, bucket, and trash picker, we spent 2.5 hours cleaning up the beach. Part of the job was to itemize and tally up the trash we found. This way, the coastal commission can put policies in place to reduce trash and litter. For example, the ban on one-time use plastic bags was put into place because the coastal cleanup collected so many plastic bags during their cleanups. I am happy to say that we didn’t find plastic bags but cigarette butts comprised the majority of our trash.
It felt good to be part of the effort to clean up the coast. Our planet needs some help from time to time. There are many sites that need to be cleaned around the state and some of the sites may be in your “backyard”. Think about volunteering next year. Check out the California clean up map for a list of sites.

NSC cleanup crew

Winston is ready to cleanup!