~ 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!

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. According to Chinese Five Element Astrology Calendar, 2012 is the Year of Water Dragon.

Chinese astrology is a balance theory of Five Elements. Each animal can be converted into Five Elements. Dragon contains Earth, Water and Wood. It’s a source of water and it is also called the water dam in Chinese astrology. Since water of 2012 comes with Dragon, it implied water from the sky makes a dam over-flow. Therefore 2012 is a strong water year. Read the rest of this entry »

I just got the souvenirs back from the embroidery for the Sun Valley trip.  It is a high quality fleece from Marmot (thanks to Karen Soo’s connections).  We ran out of some of the colors for the men, so colors will vary for some of the men.

There’s snow at Sun Valley already.  19 runs and 6 lifts are already open.  It’s a La Nina year for 2012 and it means a colder and wetter winter which is great for us.

I will setup a date for the orientation meeting in the next few weeks when I get the full details about our itinerary from Daman-Nelson.

~ Karen Soo – Trip Director

It’s November and you can feel the chill in the air. I was just in Lake Tahoe for a few days attending Marmot’s Fall12 sales meeting. All the Aspen leaves had fallen and a winter cold blast had hit the Tahoe area, a good sign that snow will arrive early this year. I heard Boreal is making snow and there is word that they might open this weekend.

They say La Niña is back. What does this mean?

Well water temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean are much colder than average, which is the definition of La Niña. Those temperatures can affect weather patterns across the globe, and that’s why La Niña is important. For North America, La Niña has some predictable consequences for snow during the winter meaning    LOTS OF SNOW FOR 2012

The two weekend trips that are scheduled for 2012 are set and ready to go.   Read the rest of this entry »

Back by popular demand, Mammoth Mountain returns as the destination resort for the NSC Long Weekend Ski Trip. Its stats certainly reflect its moniker: 3500 acres, 3100 vertical feet, 385 inches of snow and 300 days of sunshine. California’s highest ski elevation and longest season.  The trip will begin with an early Friday departure to our first bonus ski destination, Kirkwood. After enjoying a day of skiing, we’ll continue on to Mammoth for a three-night stay in condos. Three fun-filled days of skiing at Mammoth Mountain will follow. After the third day at Mammoth Mountain (Monday), we’ll drive north to Reno and stay overnight at Sands Hotel. The next day, we’ll drive to Sugar Bowl, where we’ll finish up the trip with our fifth day of skiing (or boarding)!

Dates:  Friday, March 23 – Tuesday March 27, 2012

Full Package Includes: Read the rest of this entry »

Karen Soo – Trip Director

It’s October and it started to rain in the bay area. I predict snow will start falling after Halloween. Before you know it, Thanksgiving will be here, Christmas and then New Years. Our weekend trip is just around the corner.

As you might have heard, Squaw Valley Resort and Alpine Meadows have joined forces. It just so happens Read the rest of this entry »

~by Charles Akers

Waterfalls, breathtaking views, beautiful roses, charming Arts & Crafts houses and a long concrete slide were some of the highlights of an NSC hike in Berkeley led by Hoyt Nelson.  For me, it was a nostalgic return to the lovely old neighborhood where I lived in the 1970’s. Read the rest of this entry »

~ Morgan Hua ~

For the Sun Valley trip,  I have 16 seats left.  6 airline seats flying out of SFO remain.   If you’re interested in this trip, there’s only two months left to signup.  Signup Deadline is Nov. 8, 2011.
If you want to book your own air, you can take the Land Only package for $890.  We have paid for a charter bus to take all of us from BOI to Sun Valley.  Your Land Only package includes this bus.  If your flight misses this bus, then you are responsible for your own transportation from the airport to Sun Valley.

Our last group flight arrives at BOI on Jan 21, 2012, 1:36pm.  Our first departing flight from BOI is on Jan 28, 2012, 12:35pm.  If you purchase a LAND ONLY package and you want to catch NSC’s chartered bus, you must arrive at BOI no later than the last club booked flight which is scheduled to arrive at 1:36 pm on Jan. 21, 2012.

If you are booking your own flight, you may want to fly directly into SUN instead of BOI.

If you change your mind about airfare, contact me before November that is when I must release our unused airfare seats.

Go to the EVENTS link for trip details or click >> HERE <<

On July 16, many NSC members  volunteered their time in support of theMountain View Obon Festival beer booth.  Grant Joo, the chairman of the beer booth  gave his gratitude to all of you with the following letter:

Please thank all of the volunteers who helped on Saturday and Sunday at the Mt. View Obon beer booth.  It was a pleasure to meet new volunteers and to see returning volunteers.  It is without a doubt that the success of the beer booth each year is Read the rest of this entry »

I’m Baacck..

~Karen Soo – Trip Director~

After 3 years of volunteering behind the scenes with NSC, I’m back as your 2011 -2012 Trip Director.

Who can think of cold weather in August?

The West Coast is waiting for their summer, the East Coast is melting with high temperatures and before you know it, snowfall will start covering the hills of Lake Tahoe.

I started the early stages of planning our ski trips for the 2012 season, so what are our plans for next year? Read the rest of this entry »

~ Morgan Hua ~

For the Sun Valley trip, I currently have 21 signups.  4 SFO seats out of 10 are already taken.

If you want to book your own air, you can take the Land Only package for $890.  We have paid for a charter bus to take all of us from BOI to Sun Valley.  Your Land Only package includes this bus.  If your flight misses this bus, then you are responsible for your own transportation from the airport to Sun Valley.

Our last group flight arrives at BOI on Jan 21, 2012, 1:36pm.  Our first departing flight from BOI is on Jan 28, 2012, 12:35pm.  If you purchase a LAND ONLY package and you want to catch NSC’s chartered bus, you must arrive at BOI no later than the last club booked flight which is scheduled to arrive at 1:36 pm on Jan. 21, 2012.

If you are booking your own flight, you may want to fly directly into SUN instead of BOI.

If you change your mind about airfare, contact me before November that is when I must release our unused airfare seats.

From Armand’s Desk, Armand Gutierrez

Membership Activity

The NSC continues grow on pace with last year. At the end of July we have 55 members, which compares with 53 members at the end of July 2010. As we get closer to ski season (yes, it will be here before you know it), there should be an increase in membership, especially around the October time frame when everyone starts getting excited about skiing and the weekend ski trips. Also please welcome the following new members: Mary Jang, Carolynn Honey, and Rick Dumlao

Chamonix Ski Week

When I first read about FWSA planning a ski week in Chamonix, France, it became apparent that this was a trip in my destiny. Why? For starters, I’ve been yearning to return to the Alps (Swiss, Austrian, or French) to explore the many ski resorts that Europe has to offer. I say “return” because I had the enviable position of living in Germany for two winter seasons. And yes, during those two seasons a weekend trip to Switzerland or Austria happened about twice a month. My only trip to France was to Tignes/Val d’Isere (a one week trip), and to Corvatsch, Italy on a weekend trip. And now I get to add Chamonix to the list.

Although the trip is in March there should still be good ski conditions. But I’m not only going for the skiing. There’s the Aiguille du Midi, which is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. If you’re afraid of heights then this is not the place for you.

I’m looking forward to the international flavor of European ski resorts. And I’m not talking about the food, although that is certainly another consideration. The international flavor of hearing people speaking so many different languages is a delight to the senses.

If you’ve never been to Europe for a week of skiing, then this is a golden opportunity. Yes, it is more expensive than the NSC ski week trips, but then what price can you put on a trip to Europe if you’ve never been there? So far, my fellow skier, Curtis Otaguro, will be joining me on this trip. If you’re interested or have any questions, then you know whom to call.

Byline: Karen “Gilligan” Soo

Seven NCS members and guests ventured out to San Francisco Bay on July 23 for a day of salmon fishing.  With 2 doses of Dramamine in my system and my motion sickness band on my wrist, I was ready to go. Most of us got up as early as 4:00am to meet at 5:00am at the Emeryville Marina where Tom Ryugo and I met our fellow castaways.

Everyone checked in, handed over $5.00 for the “Biggest Catch” cash pot, and we were on our way.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the Sun Valley trip, I have 10 signups in hand already.  4 SFO seats out of 10 are already taken.  If you want to book your own air, you can take the Land Only package for $890.  We have paid for a charter bus to take all of us from BOI to Sun Valley.  Your Land Only package includes this bus.  If your flight misses this bus, then you are responsible for your own transportation from the airport to Sun Valley.  Our last flight arrives at BOI on Jan 21, 2012, 1:36pm.  Our first departing flight from BOI is on Jan 28, 2012, 12:35pm.  If you change your mind about airfare, contact me before September, that is when I must release our airfare seats and any cancellations or changes will cost you money.

For those who wanted airfare, I will contact you separately about your legal name for the airline tickets.

You must be a NSC member to go on the Sun Valley trip.  Armand, our membership chair, prefers that you send a separate membership form and check to him, but for your convenience, I will take the membership form and fee when you send in your first payment.

We will be at Sun Valley during Theme Week.  I don’t have details yet, but there are supposed to be free parties and events at that time.

That’s all for now.

Good news.  Dan Lew has volunteered to be the Newsletter Editor.  Dan, Thank You.

Frank Chang returns as Treasurer for a 3rd term.  NSC has term limits, but since no one was elected Treasurer this year, Frank graciously agreed to stay on as Treasurer for another term.

I’d like to thank members of last year’s board:  Alice Horio, Charles Akers, David Jensen, Frank Chang, Hoyt Nelson, Armand Gutierez, Joel Hayashida, Allen Hu, Brian Hess, Karen Soo, David Tom, and Greg Wong.  NSC is an all volunteer organization and without the hard work of these people and others, we wouldn’t exist.  All of  these people have been on the board for many years, even decades.   Thank you, thank you,  thank you.

The board for 2011-2012 is smaller than previous years, but our membership is smaller too.  Last year we had 117 members.  Decades ago, we had peaked at 450 members.

This year, we don’t have a newsletter editor.  I will continue to post articles and pictures, and events on the website as this will be our way of communicating with the membership.    The only reason we offer a hardcopy option is that a small number of dedicated members do not have regular web access and need signup forms mailed to them via the US mail.  For a fee, I will just periodically print out the website articles and signup forms and mail it to them.  The PDF version of the newsletter will cease to exist.

Karen Soo has a tentative schedule for the next season, it includes 2 weekend bus trips and 1 long weekend  trip to Mammoth.  I have the weeklong trip scheduled already to Sun Valley for Jan 21-28, 2012. The price is $1200.  At the end of this month, there will be Post-Season/Thank You BBQ Lunch at my house.

If I don’t see you at the Post-Season Event, I’ll see you at the slopes or at a different event.

Morgan