by Hoyt Nelson, Board Member

The polls are now closed and all the write-ins have declined.  

The Board Members for 2022-2023 on June 1 will be: 

• President: Armand Gutierrez
• Vice President: vacant
• Treasurer: Frank Chang
• Trip Director: Karen Soo
• Newsletter Editor: Karen Soo
• Membership Director: Tina Woo
• Board Members at Large: Curtis Otaguro, Jeanne Katsuro, David Schultz, Rick Dumlao, Hoyt Nelson

Thanks for your participation.  These board members will be working hard to ensure you enjoy your membership in the Nisei Ski Club. If you are interested in helping out with specific tasks (like the picnic or the annual ski trip), please contact anyone on the board. Congratulations to all the winners and we wish all the best to the Nisei Ski Club in the coming year.

by Karen Soo, Trip Director

Please join us on Saturday, July 23 at Las Palmas Park in Sunnyvale for our NSC annual picnic.

As you may or may not know, our infamous Trip Director, party planner, aka Martha Stewart wannabe, and chef extraordinaire is moving to New York to take care of family obligations. Along with celebrating our excellent ski club and its members at the picnic, please come out and join us for a special “Bon Voyage” to Karen.

We don’t know how she is going to manage the ski trips and newsletter from 2500 miles away. You know she will pull strings out of the hat to get the job done (hint: she could use some help)!

Please RSVP no later than July 20, so we can order the right amount of food for the picnic. Click here for all the details. 

by Armand Gutierrez, President

May is here and that means it’s time to bring an end to the NSC 2021-2022 season. Unlike last year, NSC moved more to its normal existence with reduced COVID requirements, and a sense of returning to social interaction. We had good attendance at two of our main events, the annual ski week to Steamboat and the annual Luau and Membership picnic. Even with a low snow load during another drought year, many members enjoyed many awesome ski days in Tahoe and elsewhere.

But now it’s June, which marks the start of the NSC 2022-2023 season, and it’s time to restart the upcoming season with a return of our standby events and perhaps a few new ones. Beginning this month, you can take advantage of the $5 membership discount if you sign up and submit your membership form before May 31^st. Please submit your application to Tina Woo (Membership Chairman).

The board has been meeting frequently because life with NSC does go on.  Plans are in the making for our annual Luau and Membership Picnic, our ski week trip to Breckenridge, and a few other events that are in the planning stages.

Board Nominations & Elections

The nominations process has been completed and the next step is elections. The elections chairman (that would be Hoyt Nelson) tells me there were several nominations. Therefore, the slate consists of the incumbents and nominees. However, voting is important and although there were several nominations you can still vote for a write-in candidate. Whether you’re voting for an incumbent, nominee, or a write-in candidate, it’s important that you do vote. Your vote tells the board that you do appreciate the volunteer work performed by members of the board, so please take the very short time needed to cast your vote. The election ballot will be distributed in the coming weeks.

2023 NSC Ski Week to Breckenridge, CO

Next year’s ski week will be at Breckenridge, CO from 28 January – 4 February, 2023. Breckenridge is an Epic Pass destination so you can now order an Epic Pass for the next season. Once again, Sports America will be offering the Epic/Ikon Pass promotion-trip rebate for anyone that goes on the trip and purchases a pass through Sports America.

For 2022-23 Breckenridge will be on the Epic Pass, and is also good for Northstar, Heavenly Valley and Kirkwood. Here is what you need to know about the Ikon and Epic Passes for the Breckenridge trip:

• Purchase an Ikon Pass (Palisades/Alpine) from Sports America and receive a:
  • $60 trip discount for an Ikon Base Pass, or 
  • $60 trip discount for an Ikon Pass.
  • Go to this link to purchase: : www.sportsamerica.com/ikon-nisei.
  • The Ikon Pass or Ikon Base Pass cannot be used at Breckenridge.

• Purchase an Epic Pass (Northstar, Heavenly, Kirkwood) from Sports America and receive a:
  • $40 trip discount for an Epic Local Pass
  • $30 trip discount for an Epic Tahoe Local, 5-days skiing at Breckenridge
  • $30 trip discount for an Epic 5-day Unrestricted Pass, 5-days skiing at Breckenridge
  • $20 trip discount for an Epic 5-day Holiday Excluded Pass, 5-days skiing at Breckenridge. This pass is recommended if you only want to ski 5 days at Breckenridge.
  • Go to this link to purchase: www.sportsamerica.com/epic-nisei.

• Our trip will not be during any of the Holiday Exclusion dates.
• Purchase both the Ikon/Epic passes and you will receive a combination trip discount based on the type of passes you purchase.

If you have any questions about either of the passes then drop me a line at president@niseiskiclub.org.

QotM: Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.

by Judy Bracken, Newsletter Editor

It was April 25 at Palisades, as it was the only resort open on Mondays in the north Lake Tahoe area. Elaine and I were loving the sunny skies, cool breezy weather and no crowds on this late season day. There had been a few inches of new snow the week before, so coverage on the slopes was good. As the afternoon waned and the temperatures rose, the snow was becoming sticky–the kind that grabs and slows the skis suddenly. Elaine was quite a bit ahead of me, as I was cautiously making my way down to the base on Mountain Run upper road, when I heard a rumbling noise behind me as a snowboarder cried out “Oh, s*#%!” I initially thought the snowboarder had just crashed, but when the noise continued I turned around to look, and was gobsmacked to see a wall of slow moving snow continuing to slide down seconds behind me! I was no more than 20 yards away, and no one was buried in it, thankfully. The snowboarder rode down another run, so I was the last person to ski down Mountain Run that day.

Elaine and I decided to take the Funitel up once again, so we could get a better view of the slide. It originated about 2/3 of the way up the run (2nd Westface, next to Mosely’s) above the road. It was not a roaring avalanche like we see in films, but more like a slow slide full of big, heavy, wet chunks. When Elaine skied down next to the slide to glean more information, a ski patroller scolded her as he was probing the snow. Apparently, she was not supposed to come that close, although he was probably just following protocol. The slide was about 3-4 feet tall, and the road was, most likely, cleared by the next day.

Whether the universe was sending me a message, or I had an angel by my side, it was a good time to end the season. At any rate, that day was a day to remember…my last ski day of the 2021-22 ski season!