Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

It’s the month of May and that means it’s time to bring an end to the NSC 2015-2016 season. Like last year NSC had a pretty good season highlighted by a variety of accomplishments:

• Volunteer participation at the annual Obon Festival in Mountain View
• Volunteer participation at the annual Snowbomb Ski Shows
• Various hiking and picnic events
• Implementation of rideNSC, a ride sharing service for skiing
• An increase in membership
• First Annual Pizza Social
• A very well-attended ski week to Park City/Canyons

June marks the start of the NSC 2016-2017 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 submit your applications to Greg Wong (Membership Chairman).

Since it’s the end of the ski season it’s time to start having our spring NSC events. Coming up we have our annual Post-Season Membership meeting and picnic on June 11th. Be sure to gander at the flyer in this month’s newsletter for details.

Nominations & Elections

The nominations process has been completed and the next step is elections. The elections chairman tells me there were no nominations therefore the slate consists of the incumbents, and we’re fortunate that everyone on the board has agreed to serve again. However, voting is important and although there were no nominations you can still vote for a write-in candidate. Whether you’re voting for the incumbents or a write-in candidate, it’s important that you do vote. You will be receiving an email informing you to vote online using SurveyMonkey.

Ski Week 2017

Plans are all ready in progress for our Snowmass ski week next year and details will be in the June newsletter. If you’re considering Snowmass for next year then you might also want to look into getting the Mountain Collective Season Pass, which will be good for two days skiing at Aspen Snowmass, plus a third resort of your choice. Snowmass date is January 28 – February 4.

Greg Wong, Membership Chairperson

This year’s ski season is coming to a close. El Niño has brought us a good year of skiing. The season started early and I took advantage of it in December with Nisei Ski Club. For those that do not know, Nisei Ski Club has a ride sharing program that was started this year. With the problems and cost of filling a bus, Nisei Ski Club has gone back to its roots. In the beginning, members would arrange trips by car pooling with other members. The club was founded by a group of hardcore skiers wanting to share in the experience. This year we will be trying more ski trips using this method. It allow some trips such as in December and late in the season when it is harder to get a full bus. It also allows last minute ski trips when the powder falls. There is one catch. You must be a member. So now is the time to renew those memberships and join again, or join if you are new. If you sign up before June 1, there is a $5 discount.

Link to membership form.

Our ski fashionista Karen Soo found this clever video that shows 100 years of ski fashion. The video was put together by the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum. Check it out.

Link to: video

The Monterey Ski and Social Club is planning a fishing trip to Loreto in Baja California.

Date: August 6-August 11
Price: $780 per person includes 5 nights at Hotel La Mision, 3 days of fishing, ground transfers and fishing licenses.
Contact: Rich Hughett 831-757-5709

For more information, see the fishing trip flyer

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

April is upon us and that signals the upcoming end of our ski season. Thanks to El Niño the Tahoe resorts received an abundance of much-needed snow and provided us with a good ski season. Northstar and Heavenly are closing on April 17^th, and as expected Squaw Valley will remain open into May, and other resorts haven’t indicated when they will be closing. Hopefully you had a good ski season this year, whether it was at Tahoe or the Park City/Canyons ski week.

Nominations & Elections

Well, it’s that time again for holding our board nominations and elections for the 2016-2017 season. By now you’ve received an email for making your nominations for the board. As you know, volunteers run this club, and without them this club would cease to exist, and it’s been in existence for almost 60 years! You are encouraged to take this 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.

Ski Week 2017

Now that the Park City/Canyons trip is behind us it’s time to think about the NSC ski week for next year. It’s been quite awhile (2006) since we’ve been to Snowmass. I distinctly remember that trip because right after I somehow managed to get elected President. Yes, there were other memorable events, such as finding an anatomically correct snowman at the front door of our condo. And the food at the potluck was just amazing! If you’re considering Snowmass for next year then you might also want to look into getting the Mountain Collective Season Pass, which will be good for two days skiing at Aspen Snowmass, plus a third resort of your choice. Tentative date is January 28 – February 4.

Hi Fujii Tribute

As many of you know Hi Fujii, a founder of the Nisei Ski Club, passed away in August of last year. As a tribute the board decided to create a photo album of Hi’s involvement and participation in many of the NSC events. Hoyt Nelson, a longtime friend of Hi, spearheaded this effort and gathered as many photographs as he could, which took several months to collect. With the help of his wife Nancy, they created a photo album highlighting Hi’s NSC activities. On April 1^st, Hoyt and I visited Phyllis and presented her with the photo album as a tribute to her late husband. Needless to say, Phyllis was quite surprised and quite thankful for receiving such a tribute. I would like to thank Nancy and Hoyt Nelson for the many hours working and producing the photo album.

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

Now is the time to pick up your season passes for the 2016-2017 season. There are three passes that you should consider: the Tahoe Local/Value Pass, the Squaw Tahoe Super Pass, and the Mountain Collective Pass.

The Tahoe Local Pass (Adult – $529) is a good deal if you plan on skiing at least five days at Northstar, Heavenly Valley, or Kirkwood. The Tahoe Value Pass (Adult – $449, Senior – $369) is an even better deal if you ski at least four days at Northstar, Heavenly, or Kirkwood. However, Saturday’s are excluded for Northstar and Kirkwood. The Tahoe Value Pass also offers a Senior pass (65+) that is the best overall deal for those that qualify. Purchase by April 10 and you also get six Buddy Passes. For details go to this website: Tahoe Local Pass.

The Tahoe Super Pass offers three levels of passes for skiing at Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Sierra-At-Tahoe, and Sugarbowl:

• Gold Level – (Adult – $829, Senior – $679, Super-Senior – $359)
• Silver Level – (Adult – $589, Senior – $439, Super-Senior – $269)
• Bronze Level – (Adult – $469, Senior – $379)

The various levels have restrictions and prices listed are good thru April 19. Details can be found at this website: Squaw Alpine Tahoe Super Pass.

The Mountain Collective Pass is a single pass that is good for 24 days of skiing at 12 different ski resorts (2 days at each resort), and the price is $379. However, they do limit the number of passes sold. The pass is good for Aspen Snowmass, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows, and Mammoth (just to name a few). If you’re planning on going to Snowmass in 2017 then you should consider this option. For details go to this website: The Mountain Collective.

Karen Soo

With lift tickets costing $130 a pop at Heavenly and Squaw Valley, we’re always looking out for bargains related to the outdoor industry. Here’s one. All you have to be is 50 + and sign up at Seniors Skiing.

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

Go to the Seniors Skiing website and get a code to join the “snow influencers” group for Promotive. You then have to register for the Promotive website using the code. The discounts are pretty decent. Not all companies are listed in the group, but they do include Asics, Clif Bars, Fischer, Swix, Mountain Hardware, Camelbak, and Scott (skis only!). About 240+ companies (ski, biking, outdoors, etc.) are included in the group.

The membership is good for a year. I don’t know if they allow you to renew your membership after a year. We’ll find out later.

Happy Shopping!

Karen Soo, Trip Director
El Nino predictions came true with plenty of snow for the Lake Tahoe area. Nisei Ski Club had 36 sign-ups for trip 1 for the Heavenly weekend trip. For trip 2, we ended up short.  We had only 9 sign-ups and we were forced to cancel the bus trip.

What happened here? Good snow conditions were not enough and we needed more bodies. Maybe the weekend trip was too close to the returning trip from Park City. In any case, I was determined to get a trip going.

Six NSC members were willing to go up for the weekend. We had two cars to take everyone. I was able to secure NSC rates at the Sands Hotel in Reno. Discounted lift tickets were purchased from Sports Basement and Craigslist. Can you imagine me meeting all these strangers at my local Peet’s coffee shop in Alameda? So far they were all pretty cool — I haven’t met a psycho yet.

Following the tradition of a NSC trip, we served breakfast: egg, ham and cheese omelet with veggies wrapped in lavash bread. When you see me next time, ask me how I heated up the breakfasts.

The original Saturday plan was to go to Mt. Rose. Upon hearing the news of high winds and the possibility of upper mountains being closed, we decided to go to Diamond Peak. This is nice family resort plus it was my first time there. It’s an easy mountain but we think it’s pretty steep for beginners. Skiing down on one of the runs called the” Flume “run was challenging. We were hit with 50 mile per hour winds and corn snow was blasting our faces. There was no way we could fall because the force of the winds was just holding us up.

We skied a full day at Diamond Peak and afterwards we stopped off at Jim Sanchez and Janice Malena’s house (members of NSC). Jim is a ski instructor at Mt. Rose and we had our après snacks there. The high winds continued to howl around the area of his house.

On Sunday, high winds and a new snow storm were in the forecast. We opted to skip Squaw Valley and decided to drive home early. We stopped off for pies at Ikeda’s in Auburn. The snow was coming down and the roads were really icy. We got home safely and even though we only skied one day, we had a good time being together.

On the next day, I heard that the upper mountains of Squaw Valley closed due to high winds. They did not open up the lifts until 9:40am plus there were tons of people waiting in line. So, good move on our part.

Thanks to Curtis O. and David U. for having SUVs and being the designated drivers. It was good to have Tom L., Haruko N. and Edna K. (from Oregon) on the trip. We all had great time.

We will continue to make these last minute weekend car/ ski trips. If you are interested in driving or going up skiing on the NON NSC weekend trip. I encourage you to sign up for the rideNSC Yahoo Group. Please email me for information.

Hoyt Nelson

With the start of warm weather, my thoughts turn to bocce ball.  I don’t think we have enough people in the club to make a long term commitment for places like Campo di Bocce, but if anybody wants to get on a list for a game at other free locations, I will gladly organize it and supply the equipment.  Since I last talked to you about getting games started, I’ve been playing at the very nice courts at Lake Almaden in San Jose.  There are 4 first-come-first-served courts with bathrooms and water fountains within 100 feet.  Just send me desired times and your e-mail address if you are interested.  Any time you want a game, e-mail me and I will notify the rest on the list to see if anybody else wants to be included.

NSC bocce ball players

Hoyt will supply equipment

Sandy Kiyomura

In the February newsletter, I wrote about DSUSA, the ski school at Alpine Meadows which provides ski lessons to persons with disabilities. Disabled Sports is now called “Achieve Tahoe”,  and provides the same services as it has for the past 48 years.

As you may recall, I won a California Gold Pass which lets one ski at any California resort. It is fully transferable, so anyone can use it. Since I already had my Squaw and Epic passes, I lent out the pass in exchange for a donation to Achieve Tahoe. I am happy to announce that Nisei ski club has donated almost $1,000 to Achieve Tahoe. Thank you to all the members (and non-members) who contributed.

This is an example of how Nisei ski club has “given back” to the community. It was a “win-win” situation for all.

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

So what happened to El Niño? January was very promising with plenty of rain in the Bay Area and snow in the Sierras. February turned out to be a mild winter with less rain and snow and now we’re back to average rainfalls and snowfalls. Let’s hope that March really does come in with higher than average rainfall and more snow, otherwise it might be a short season.

 Trip 2 Cancelled

Although there’s plenty of snow up at Tahoe, there weren’t enough signups for Trip 2 to Squaw Valley and Sugarbowl. Perhaps it was on the heels of the ski week trip to Park City, or the warmer temps that have been predominate in February. Our trip director, Karen Soo, is looking into arranging for smaller groups to take trips to Tahoe for weekend skiing.

 Park City/Canyons Ski Week 2016

The Park City/Canyons trip was a great trip and everyone had a great time. Although Park City is in the midst of a “mild” winter there was plenty of snow in Park City and Canyons. Incidentally, the Park City trail maps only refer to Park City, although it includes what was the Canyons ski resort. On Monday we received 4″ of fresh snow that was an extreme delight for skiing. The remainder of the week brought us clear, blue skies and higher-than-normal temps (in the high 40s). The Potluck Dinner was one of the highlights of the week. Picture in your mind 47 people roaming the halls of a four-story building in search of a tasty meal. At the end of the trip many people were already asking about next year’s trip. If you have suggestions for next year’s trip, then let me know. I would like to thank everyone for coming on this trip, as it was a lot of fun for everyone, meeting new friends, and exploring new runs at Canyons. Thank you for your generous gift. As a token of my appreciation, a portion of it will be donated to Achieve Tahoe (formerly Disabled Sports USA Far West).

Park City 2016 Trip – Group Photo

Let’s be honest. It’s a lot of work to prepare for these weeklong ski trips. If you’re like me and ski infrequently, you have to find your ski clothes, skis, poles, boots, and helmet. Where did I store all this stuff?! Luckily, my husband Winston is good at finding them. You wonder why you are going to all this effort when everything is s-o-o-o-o-o heavy and bulky. Aiyyyahh! Then, you go on the trip and it’s clear why you do this. I love the camaraderie, catching up with good friends, and the pain fades away.

The Skiing

Despite the spring conditions, it was fun skiing at Park City/Canyons. There were lots of pleasant long blue cruising runs. Yes, the snow conditions weren’t ideal. It was icy in the morning and slushy in the afternoon. The snow conditions are reversed for Utah and California his year. The Utah snow reminded me of our traditional Sierra concrete.

The Canyons was another world with multi-million dollar mansions along the ski runs and $23 burgers. So, this is where the 1% stays!

The Eating

Of course, NSC is all about eating. For potluck night, Matt Rahmani taught our team how to make Persian dishes. Under Chef Rahmani’s direction, we made pureed eggplant, potato pancakes, Kiibudeh Kebab, roasted tomatoes, yogurt dip, Persian rice, and an herb appetizer.  On Monday night, we formed an assembly line to chop and grate the ingredients for the kebabs, potato pancakes, appetizer plate, and yogurt dip. On Tuesday night, we turned into line cooks and fried the potato pancakes and kebabs. Haruko’s Persian salad and Ken Takata’s pear custard pie rounded out our offerings.  I had so much fun! The food was delicious and abundant. We made enough to feed every single person on the trip. I am collecting the potluck recipes and will send a copy to anyone who is interested.

On Thursday night, a few of the condos held a “leftovers” potluck. The objective of this potluck is to use up all the food in the refrigerator so you don’t bring anything back home. Amy Tsuhako worked magic that night. She made a super tasty lettuce wrap with an amazing sauce that was whipped up from peanut butter, tabasco and honey packets.

The Pictures

NSC Amigos	Judy, Amy, David Schultz, Matt, David Tsuhako
David Tsuhako, Greg, Judy, Amy, David Tom	Your board members at the farewell dinner
Armand took a poll and “ahem” many of us are older skiers — so where do we feel the burn?

If you’re interested in seeing more pictures of the Park City trip, check out Bill Lee’s (NSC’s unofficial official photographer) photo albums.

1. Photos by Sandy Kiyomura
2. Photos by Bill Lee
3. Videos by Bill Lee

Sandy Kiyomura

If you read Armand’s message, you have already heard about the scrumptious potluck everyone enjoyed. Amy and Judy suggested that condo teams choose a theme and provide appetizers, salad, a main dish, and dessert for 12 people. There were four different themes: American, Persian, Mexican and “favorite home recipes”.

Elaine, Matt, Amy, David Tsuhako, and Jenny’s condo hosted the Persian dinner. It consisted of Panir Sabzi, puree eggplant, potato pancakes, Kiibudeh Kebab, roasted tomatoes and pear custard pie (made by Ken Takata). Matt introduced his team to Persian cooking and this group made their dinner into a culinary and learning adventure.

The Mexican meal was hosted by Armand, Andrea and Rick who made chicken enchiladas and Sangria. Liz and Dave made Calabacitas and the “Dave Condo” (David Shultz, David Tom, Dan Lew and Lieu Shultz) brought the margaritas, salsa and chips and flan.

Greg, Sandy and Lansing’s condo hosted the “favorite home recipes”. Judging by the number of requests for her recipe, Sandy’s peanut butter and jelly salmon was a hit. Greg made teriyaki beef, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Lansing (who is quite a baker) made a pear tart. The back story on Lansing’s tart is that he couldn’t find a rolling pin so he used a wine bottle to roll out the dough.

The American dinner was hosted by Joanne and Ron Nishimura’s condo. There were two kinds of chicken, mac and cheese, salad, fruit, chocolate cake and apple pie.

Total number of calories unknown!

As you know, food (and spirits) bring people together. The 40+ participants on the trip were able to enjoy great food and company after a hard day of skiing. Amy and Judy, thank you for organizing this potluck. If you have never experienced a week long ski trip with Nisei ski club, make sure you plan for next year’s trip. Come for the skiing, stay for the food.

Sandy’s peanut butter and jelly salmon and Greg’s steak	Lansing’s pear tart
Food and spirits bring people together	Food for all!

Karen Soo, Trip Director

It’s been over 5 years since the Nisei Ski Club went to Heavenly. There’s never a dull moment with these Nisei Ski Club weekend trips. We actually got a bus load of 36 people. Eight people were on our trip for the first time. Some found us on the internet. NSC members brought new friends and 2 boarders from Santa Cruz Ski Club joined us. Social media does work.

We started our adventure with the same routine. The bus picked up half the group from San Jose and made its way to the El Cerrito Community Center to pick up the other half. Grady was our gracious and skilled driver. After our skis and luggage were stowed away at the El Cerrito stop, we were finally on our way. We served a delicious dinner – chicken Thai green curry over rice with mango pudding as our dessert. The Nisei Ski Club ski trips are all about the food.

Luckily, there was no chain control on our way to the South Shore so we arrived at the Blue Lake Inn by 12:15am. Room keys were distributed and everyone scurried off to their rooms. On Saturday morning, lift tickets were distributed and everyone walked 150 yards to the gondola to find out that the gondola was not running.  Everyone had to squeeze into the crowded shuttle bus and take the lift chair from California Lodge. We also found out that the entire Nevada side of Heavenly was CLOSED DOWN.

I was the one of the last people to depart from the motel and I did not get my first run in until 11:00am. What was the problem here? We heard there were high winds at the higher elevation and a tree had fallen over a transformer, which caused the power to go out. You can just imagine the swelling crowds and lines getting longer and longer. Many of us jumped over to the singles line to help add runs to our day. I barely skied a total of 7,800 vertical feet for the day.

At the end of the day, everyone made it back to Amy and David Tsuhako’s room where we broke out the beer, wine and snacks. Imagine squeezing in 36 people into a motel room!

We heard from the locals that the Nevada side was going to be closed again on Sunday. We decided not to take that chance and voted to go to Sierra-at-Tahoe. Hmmmm…..maybe it was the locals way of telling us to go somewhere else.

Thanks to Sandy Kiyomura, our BAC Benefits Director, who made a few phone calls and sent a few quick emails so that group rate lift tickets were ready for us when we arrived at Sierra-at-Tahoe. We all got on the mountain by 9:30am and we had fresh POWDER. Sierra was very accommodating and it definitely made up for Saturday’s skiing fiasco.

When we left Sierra, it was snowing and it took an hour just to get out of the parking lot. By the time we were on Highway 50, Amy served her dinner. A new recipe – sesame chicken pita wrap with pickled carrot, daikon, onions, lettuce, and cilantro with a squirt of hoisin sauce and sriracha mayo, plus a side of edamame beans and a cream cheese brownie for dessert. She definitely went all for our hungry patrons.

It was smooth sailing home but took a bit longer than expected. We got into El Cerrito at 10:30pm and the bus arrived at San Jose around 11:15pm.

We all made it home safely. No skiing accidents were reported. We met some new people and we all had a great time.

Unfortunately, NSC Trip 2 is cancelled due to lack of sign ups. For the few who signed up for Trip 2, we are planning a car caravan trip. Stay tuned for next month’s article about this adventure.

Waiting for the shuttle at Heavenly – Santa Cruz peeps Aryeh + Nicole, Amy + David
We’re finally on the slopes: Wes, Margaret, Curtis, Morgan, Greg	Snowboarders Andrea and Rick
Powder ski day at Sierra-at-Tahoe: Sandy + Sarah	Co-tour leader Amy is still smiling
	Powder ski day at Sierra-at-Tahoe: David M

Check out this short video of Curtis skiing down the Gunbarrel run at Heavenly.

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

Happy Chinese New Year!

Welcome to the Chinese Year of the Monkey! Yes, the Chinese New Year started February 8^th and if you were born under the sign of the Monkey then you are quick-witted, curious, innovative, and mischievous. And this is exactly how monkeys behave, and they certainly can be quite mischievous. Do you know anyone in the club that fits the characteristics of a monkey?

First Weekend Trip

Due to poor snow conditions, it’s been several years since NSC hosted a weekend ski trip. Now that Tahoe has been receiving a lot of snow, compliments of El Niño, the first Heavenly weekend ski trip went up at the end of January with a busload of skiers. I checked the Heavenly website and the weather conditions weren’t the greatest with high winds, and all lifts on the Nevada side were out due to a power outage on the first day. Sunday’s weather had less windy conditions and power was restored to the Nevada side and all lifts were operational. However, the group decided to head over to Sierra-at-Tahoe for the second day where they enjoyed lots of freshies. With temperatures in the mid-20’s that should make for light and fluffy snowflakes (see photo). I’m sure that those that didn’t know how to ski powder got a chance to improve their skills. Given the weather conditions at Heavenly and the powder at Sierra I’m sure there will be plenty of stories after this trip.

Park City/Canyons Ski Week 2016

The Park City/Canyons trip is moving along well and we currently have 47 signups (yes, we had a few late signups in January). The Park City/Canyons Orientation Meeting was held Saturday, February 6th, and was well attended by our seasoned veterans as well as few new members. Everyone enjoyed basking in the sun in the backyard talking about the Park City/Canyons trip and other ski adventures. There was a minor change in our flight itinerary and an email was sent to all Park City attendees, as well as the Park City/Canyons pamphlet.

Sandy Kiyomura

There is a very special ski school located at Alpine Meadows. The “Tahoe Adaptive Ski School” was started over 48 years ago by a few Vietnam War Vets who were learning to cope with their disabilities. They were taught to ski by Jim Winthers, a World War II Veteran of the 10th Mountain Division and Director of the Soda Springs ski school. They use specialized adaptive equipment and teaching methods to offer persons with any disability the experience of being on the snow. Their mission is “to provide affordable inclusive physical and recreational activities that build health and confidence”.

I had the privilege of working as a volunteer ski instructor for this organization for over ten years. By teaching, I learned to ski better. But working for “Achieve Tahoe” taught me more than how to ski better. It gave me lessons in patience, gratitude and humility that I may not have learned anywhere else. I learned to appreciate things I often take for granted. When I have a sore knee, I think “at least I have a leg”. When I’m having a bad day, I remember all the challenges my students have in daily life. Seeing their joy in skiing made me happy.

Their motto is:

If I can do this, I can do anything.

This is the reason behind this fundraiser. Although I no longer teach for the Tahoe Adaptive Ski School, AKA Disabled Sports USA, now Achieve Tahoe, I would like to raise some monies for them. I was the lucky winner of a California Gold Pass (fully transferable, good for 27 California ski areas) and decided to “rent” it out. On a weekend bus trip with Nisei Ski club, I raffled off use of the pass. That bus trip raised $250 and so far, I have raised over $500.

There were four prizes offered on the bus trip. Three were for use of the pass for a day for $50. The “Grand” prize was for use of the pass for a day for free. Santosh, Sarah Lowe, and Margaret Wong won the $50 a day pass. Then Margaret also won the grand prize! Lucky lady.

If you are interested in donating to “Achieve Tahoe” (or using my pass), please contact me at skiyomura@gmail.com. Thank you to all who have contributed or will contribute.

For more information about Achieve Tahoe, visit the Achieve Tahoe web site.

Len Bridges

Hello everyone. My name is Len Bridges. I am a new member of Nisei Ski Club and recently enjoyed the fun and pleasure of skiing with Sandy Kiyomura and Greg Wong of the club, and with Bill Wong who we are hoping will join the club. I am both visually and hearing loss impaired. Sandy with her connections with Achieve Tahoe located near Alpine Meadows arranged for me to take a lesson from this organization. I was pretty impressed with the program and Sandy asked me to contribute an article about my experience, and so here it is.

First, a young lady at reception helped me to fill out the paper work. I didn’t have close distance reading glasses with me so I was unable to effectively read what seemed to be very tiny print. Once I had completed the paper work with her help, an individual by name of Haakon discussed quite extensively my medical health, hearing loss and visual situation.Then, I was turned over to the care of two lovely lady interns, Kristin and Taylor — their photo is on the Achieve Tahoe interns page. The lesson was to be 2 1/2 hours. This team of two young ladies would provide evaluation, instruction, and umbrella coverage for my safety on the snow.

It was indeed a blessing to me to have them provide evaluation and instruction to me while at the same time being sensitive to, and providing effective accommodation for my visual and hearing loss. In addition to providing me training as a student, they both also were open to, and positive about learning from me about my hearing loss and visual impairment, and how they might incorporate that knowledge and experience into their service as interns and as they move on to their professional careers of a medical and rehabilitative nature.

The instruction they provided was open ended with no strict pattern. Kristin and Taylor adapted the lesson content to bring my focus on the use of pole planting to improve my skill in making turns. As I learned to ski as an “older than dirt” guy, I did not develop muscle and brain memory of skiing, and thus, I ski out of my head, constantly thinking of what I need to do and how to do it. Along with this goes the extremely high “fear factor” that shoots out of orbit in the event I find myself on something too steep, going too fast, and facing the disaster of losing control. They helped address this by taking me down what seemed a totally vertical slope using a side step, which I call the slippy slide, and we descended down together, both Kristin and Taylor looking quite graceful, and me, well not so much. However, it was a great learning experience and confidence builder exercise. In addition to the value of the lesson, I had a lot of fun and the time flew by so quickly, well maybe not fast enough on that vertical part.

This program is exceptionally outstanding. They have special equipment, special talent, and special people to provide those of us with compromised mental, physical, and sentient functionality an opportunity to participate and learn in a caring, friendly, and supportive environment. They are truly angelic beings on the mountain.

Skiing

El Nino is bringing a lot of snow to the Sierras. The snowpack is over normal averages. Don’t miss out. I want to remind you of the different ways to go up and how to get discount lift tickets:

How to go up

1. Ride share – join in on the chatter to see who is giving a ride and who wants a ride. This is open to all NSC members. If you haven’t joined, click on the link on the right hand side of the page. For more information about how rideNSC works, read the article from the December newsletter.
2. NSC weekend trip – the next trip is March 11-13. For more information, see the Trip Schedules page.

Discount lift tickets

1. Sierra at Tahoe discount – you can get discounts of 22-28% from Sierra at Tahoe. Read the information on how to get your discounted tickets
2. Rent Sandy’s California Gold Pass – Read her article on how to rent it
3. BAC discount – BAC has a race league but you don’t need to race in order to get discount tickets. Show up at 8:30am where the racers are. Visit the BAC open league racing web site for more information about the racing schedule.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is February 8th. It’s the year of the monkey, which is the 9th animal in the Chinese zodiac. People born in the year of the monkey are intelligent, curious, and clever. If you’re looking to be a matchmaker for the monkey, the zodiac signs most compatible with the monkey are the rabbit and the ox.

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is one of my favorite holidays. For Chinese-Americans, it ranks right up there with Christmas. Here’s some of the New Year traditions that my family observes:

1. Lai see: When children wish their elders Happy New Year “Kung Hei Fat Choy,” they receive a red envelope with lucky money. This is called lai see. Only unmarried children are eligible for lai see. When I was a little girl, I would spend my new year money very carefully because it had to last until the next year.

2. The orange and tangerine display: Mom always puts out a plate of oranges with tangerines on top. The tangerines have to have their leaves attached. Tangerines without leaves are not acceptable. To Chinese, oranges represent gold and the Chinese word for tangerine sounds like good luck.  Oftentimes, lai see is nestled inbetween the fruit.

3. Chinese New Year feast: This is my favorite part of the new year. Chinese select certain dishes for the new year because the food sounds like a lucky word or is selected for its significance. For example, chicken is a must have dish because gai (chicken) sounds like ho sai gai (prosperous business) and the sea moss is called fat choy which means prosperity. Not only are the foods lucky and symbolic, they are delicious too.

4. Lucky papers: Red paper with Chinese poetry is taped next to the doorway. The poems often wish for fortune, prosperity, and wealth.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous new year!

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

Happy New Year!

Can you believe it’s 2016 already? I trust everyone had a Merry Christmas, a safe and Happy New Year’s celebration, and perhaps a few ski-related new year’s resolutions. There’s plenty of snow up at Tahoe and if you haven’t signed up for the first weekend trip to Heavenly then now is the time to do so. We need you to sign-up quickly to ensure that there are enough participants going and to prevent cancellation of the trip. Heavenly is always a good trip because you won’t need to take the bus early Saturday morning (sleep in a little?), and there are plenty of runs on both the Nevada and California sides to keep you busy.

Mystery Resort

Once again, no one correctly identified the resort shown in this photograph for a free lift ticket for one of the weekend ski trips. The correct answer would have been Alpine Meadows.

NSC Ride Sharing

The NSC Ride Share on Yahoo Groups is up and running and several members have already taken advantage of finding rides up to Tahoe for some skiing. If you haven’t signed up then now is the time to do so. The more members that sign up, the better are your chances for either finding a ride to Tahoe or you can offer a ride and get some members to go along and share the costs. To join, just send Sandy Kiyomura (the moderator) a request to join at rideNSC-owner@yahoogroups.com.

Park City/Canyons Ski Week 2016

The Park City/Canyons trip is moving along well and we currently have 45 signups. An orientation meeting is planned for either late January or early February so keep that in mind.

Karen Soo, Trip Director

Do I sound like a broken record? We need more sign-ups for Trip 1!

Happy New Year! What a way to start a new year! After 4 years of drought conditions, we are finally getting a nice base of snow in the Tahoe area. Our first weekend trip is scheduled for January 29 – 31, 2016 for Heavenly / Heavenly.

The bus company and hotel are requesting deadline commitments by January 13, 2016. So we need you to send in your checks. We will be skiing 2 days at Heavenly and staying at the Blue Lake Inn, which is practically a block away from the gondola. Breakfast is available from the hotel. Amy Tsuhako and I will be your trip leaders.

I know the Christmas holidays might have put a dent in your wallet. If you want to send in the money later, then I will allow you to do this provided you are a loyal NSC member and that I know your word is good. Just email me if you are joining us or not at TripDirector@niseiskiclub.org.

The snow is great right now. This is what we all have been waiting for. It’s also a good way to get in some runs in before the NSC weeklong Utah trip. So stop thinking about it and send in your money along with your sign-up form now.

Did you know Nisei Ski Club has a ride share group? If you have available transportation or want to share a ride with someone from our club, this is the place to be. It’s an open communication forum for our members to go skiing with another NSC member. Sometimes it’s a one day trip or an overnight trip. We ask that you pay for the gas if the other is driving. Or if you are able to drive, then your passengers will pay for the gas. The more people sharing the ride, then the lower the cost.

Lodging is available for overnight trips. Please email Sandy (the moderator) at rideNSC-owner@yahoogroups.com if you want to be added to this list.

See you on the slopes.

If you have any questions, please email Karen Soo at TripDirector@niseiskiclub.org.

Sandy Kiyomura

A group of skiers used the rideNSC Yahoo Group to arrange rides to Tahoe. We skied Northstar for 2 days. The snow and the skiing were simply awesome.

To join the NSC ride share group, send a request to me (Sandy Kiyomura, the moderator) at rideNSC-owner@yahoogroups.com.

Left to right: Allen Hu, Greg Wong, Hong Chin, Armand Gutierrez

Sandy Kiyomura

Sandy Kiyomura

I am starting the NSC race team. Who’s joining? We only need a few skiers. Information about how the ski league works is in my December article. NSC will supplement $25 of your fees and you will be skiing at your own level.

I will be participating in the January and March races. Use the rideNSC Yahoo Group to arrange a ride. Contact Sandy Kiyomura at skiyomura@gmail.com if you are interested. It’ll be fun!

Armand Gutierrez, NSC President

Let the ski season begin! A few resorts opened before Thanksgiving and after Thanksgiving more resorts have opened with an abundance of snow on the slopes. The season looks very promising and the weather forecasts are for more rain in the Bay Area and more snow up at Tahoe. If you haven’t planned on taking a trip up there before the Christmas holidays then what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to signup for one of the weekend ski trips. There’s going to be plenty of snow this season so let’s take advantage of what Mother Nature has to offer.

Last month there was a contest to identify this ski location and earn a free lift ticket for the first weekend ski trip. Well, there were no correct guesses. Those that did guess mistakenly named California ski resorts, which weren’t open at the time the newsletter was published. The correct guess was Loveland, CO.

So  let’s try this again with a new resort, and as a hint this location is somewhere in California. Once again, as an added incentive the first person to correctly identify the resort and signup for any weekend ski trip will get a free one-day lift ticket. Email your answer to president@niseiskiclub.org. (Board members excluded, deadline is 31 December, and only one answer per person so guess carefully).

Ride Sharing Service

Sandy Kiyomura has set up a ride sharing service (a first for NSC!) for NSC members to facilitate getting to the slopes with other members. The service is called rideNSC and you have to join Yahoo Groups in order to gain access. Members can post to the group to either offer a ride-sharing opportunity or make a request that you’re interested in joining with somebody that might be going up. Details can be found in Sandy’s rideNSC article.

Park City/Canyons Ski Week 2016

The Park City/Canyons trip is moving along well and we had one new signup, so that puts us at 46. The final payment is due December 10^th so be sure to remit your payment if you haven’t already done so.

Christmas Greetings

This has been a good year for NSC with the highly-popular Jackson Hole Trip, numerous hikes, a pizza social, and what looks like the start of a good ski season. At our November board meeting we had all board members in attendance, which is sort of a rarity considering there are 11 board members. On behalf of the NSC board I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. ~Charles Dickens

Sandy Kiyomura

If you haven’t already heard, this is the El Nino Year. In an effort to create more opportunities to ski at Tahoe, NSC has established a Yahoo Groups for ride sharing called rideNSC@yahoogroups.com. The purpose of rideNSC is to connect people who need a ride with people who can offer a ride. So, you can offer a ride or ask for a ride.

It’s simple. When you offer a ride, please state:

• preferred dates
• ski areas
• where you might be staying
• what the costs will be

Anyone who is part of rideNSC and is interested can respond to you.

To get started, visit the rideNSC group information page. If you have a Yahoo id, then click on Join Group. If you don’t have a Yahoo id, click on the subscribe link.

I am the moderator and will approve (or disapprove) your membership. All members of the Nisei Ski Club can join the group. We ask for standard on-line etiquette. That means you should be “adult-like” in your postings. That means no offensive language or say anything that your mother would not approve of. Therefore, if you are interested in finding some new ski buddies this year, visit rideNSC group and start sending posts to ridensc@yahoogroups.com.

Questions? Send email to Skiyomura@gmail.com