by Armand Gutierrez
Mother Nature sure has been busy this winter with record rainfall north of the Bay Area and snowfall in the Tahoe region. Is there such a thing as too much snow? Well, yes. Too much snow can affect lift operations and I-80, the main artery to Tahoe, has suffered numerous closures for days at a time and thus curtailing any ski trips to the Tahoe area. During the ski season, and when I’m not up at Tahoe, I view the webcams on I-80 (http://dot.ca.gov/d3/cameras.html) to see the current road conditions. Sometimes the roads are clear and traffic is moving smoothly, sometimes the roads are open with chain control and long lines of slow-moving vehicles, and other times the roads are full of snow and void of any traffic. Given all the snowfall you can bet that Squaw Valley will offer skiing on the 4thof July (usually a traditional event).
2019 FWSA Ski Week to Hakuba Valley, Japan
There are a number of ski places that are on my “bucket list”, and skiing Japan is one of them. This year FWSA is going to Hakuba Valley, Japan, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Hakuba Valley consists of 10 resorts at the base of Japan’s Northern Alps. The Northern Alps reach an elevation of 3000 meters and the resorts consistently receive a heavy snowfall with deep powder. The photo shows the Hakuba Cortina ski resort. I’ll be joining several fellow NSCers, including Sandy Kiyomura, on the FWSA Hakuba Valley ski week from 8-16 March and a second week in Kanazawa, Kyoto, and Tokyo from 16-23 March. As members of NSC you are eligible to take any BAC and FWSA ski trips that are offered during the ski season. And here’s something to think about – FWSA will be going to Davos, Switzerland in 2020. Details haven’t been released yet so stay tuned, and if you have an interest in going then drop me a line at president@niseiskiclub.org.
March NSC Weekend Ski Trip
Karen Soo, our trip director, has organized a car-pool effort for a weekend of skiing at Tahoe on 9-10 March. If you’re interested in going then contact Karen at tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org.
Board Nominations
Now that it’s March it’s time to think about Board Nominations for the 2019-20 season. If anyone has an interest in joining the board for the next season and has questions about what it entails then just drop a note to any of the current board members, or perhaps you have someone in mind to nominate for the board. Please keep in mind that the Nisei Ski Club relies on volunteers to be on the board and undertake the running of the club. It’s not all work and no play. Board meetings are fairly informal and afterwards we usually go out for lunch and talk about skiing or upcoming club events.
