Nisei Ski Club

~ Dave Schultz, Board Member ~

On May 3, 23 ski club members and guests from San Jose to Sacramento gathered in San Francisco to begin perhaps the most famous of the stairway walks in the city. Based on parts of stairway walks in Ada Bakalinksy’s guidebook, we took in some of the best sights from the Telegraph Hill and North Beach neighborhoods. Total length of the hike was only around 4.5 miles, but it was nearly all up and down (I’m guessing an elevation gain/loss of between 1500-2000 feet).

Led by the intrepid Hoyt Nelson, we started at Levi Strauss Plaza. This plaza was a surprise treat for me, since I had never been there before. I always knew that the headquarters for Levi Strauss & Co was in the Bay Area, but it didn’t sink in until I was standing in the plaza that this is the headquarters. (Levi Strauss got its start in San Francisco in 1853 when Strauss sold canvas overalls to gold miners.)

As you can see in the photos below, it’s a beautiful square with inlaid brick and stone, an impressive fountain, and even more impressive foliage in the park that they’ve built there. You can also see our first destination for the hike – Hoyt Tower. Er, uh, sorry … I mean Coit Tower.

Before climbing the Greenwich Stairs towards the tower, we had to admire the quirky architecture of the base of the stairs. As you can see, the non-linear construction gave the base a theme park appearance, letting us know that a fun time was about to start.

We started the long walk up, and soon reached the Montgomery St overlook. There sits an old SF landmark called the Julius Castle. The building dates back to 1922 and indeed looks

like a miniature castle. For a long time, it was a restaurant, but then fell into disrepair. It was repurchased in 2012, refurbished, and is now a functioning restaurant again.

From the parking lot near the Julius Castle, we got our first good views of the eastern SF Bay. Looking down at the piers, it seemed like we were in Costa Rica rather than California. Anyone want to take a cruise?

Although the day started cloudy, we had a feeling that the clouds would burn off. Nature didn’t disappoint us and before long we had a gorgeous sunny day.

Turning upwards, we finished ascending the 284-foot hill (approx 400 stairs from the start) to the base of Coit Tower. Probably the highlight of the day’s hike for most of us, the art-deco style tower offers commanding of the city, even from the base.

We didn’t have time to ascend the tower since the wait to go to the top is pretty long, but we did have time to step inside the foyer and view the famous murals. The murals depict SF life during the Great Depression. They were recently restored (the official re-opening was in May 2014) and the colors are as vibrant as ever.

Gathering at the back of the tower we continued winding our way around Telegraph Hill, in and out of streets, until we reached Lombard Street – the “crookedest street in the world”. With plenty of tourists in tow, we ascended up the street to Hyde Street.

Ever vigilant to keep together as a group, we prowled through the North Beach neighborhood, stopping at times to admire the fine architecture of many old homes and their graceful gardens. However, there are new apartment buildings as well, and one of them had a really cool fountain, reminding us that modern art can be found in San Francisco in unexpected places.

 Hoyt planned the route so that we had a chance to visit the San Francisco Art Museum. Built on a hill, with some very angular buildings, the museum afforded us an opportunity to view plenty of art works and climb yet more stairs (the museum is on many levels). As an added bonus, there were excellent views of Alcatraz and the intervening neighborhoods from the decks and roofs of the buildings.

Traversing the stairs on this hike, we were constantly reminded of the beauty and attention put into the gardens on either side of the stairs. Even on the longest stairs, every foot of garden was manicured in some way. The creative power of the people who live in the houses along the stairways is always impressive.

Montgomery Street was steep (ribs in the sidewalk are a big hint) and gave us one of the best workouts on the hike, but the views of downtown, especially the Transamerica Pyramid were worth the effort.

As we dropped down into the Vallejo Street neighborhood, we went through northChinatown and then the Columbus Ave Italian section. We had been walking for about 2 & 1/2 hours without stopping for food, so you can imagine what was leading us as smells from adozen restaurants wafted by.

Finally, we succumbed to our hunger and stopped in at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where all sorts of dim-sum style stuffed buns were being served. It was a lucky find, since from mixed meat & veggies to desert buns, everything was excellent and very inexpensive. Sorry for not remembering the name of this place, but I have a feeling that finding it again would be a challenge anyway.

At the top of the Filbert Stairs is a small overlook where we got the BIG view of eastern SF. From Treasure Island to the financial district – we took it all in under a cloudless sky.

We finished our hike by descending the Filbert Stairs past homes that get so much exposure to hiking tourists that we had to keep our noise level down. But it was hard not to be jolly knowing that we were going down the steep 400 stairs rather than up. And as always, it was tough not to comment about all the amazing foliage that has been planted by the homeowners.

Back at Levi Square, the Sacramento and South Bay groups bid a fond farewell to each other, then headed home. As we drove past the many sights we saw from above, we smiled at having done another hike unique to the City By The Bay. Hope to see you at the next one!

Out with the OLD, and I mean  OLD!!! and in with the NEW,  well, maybe not exactly NEW, ummm – how about RECYCLED???

The month 0f May marks the end of NSC’s membership year and it also marks my last month as your newsletter editor. When I became newsletter editor 4 years ago, we were still printing and mailing paper newsletters and then duplicating the publications online.  Today, we’re online only, resulting in more immediate notifications of club events and information as we no longer have to wait until the next month to send out club information.

I present to you, our new newsletter editor, Judy Hom!!!  Actually, Judy is a former newsletter editor, so she’s actually being recycled. Judy will bring new and interesting aspects to the newsletter.

So, a warm welcome to Judy!

ELECTIONS – on the subject of new club officers….for the first time in recent memory, elections have been held.  Many incumbents have been re-elected, but more importantly, it’s exciting to see some new board members!!!  (plus one re-cycled newsletter editor)

Here are the election results.

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP – Did I mention that this is the end of our membership year? Renew your membership before the end of May and save $5  on your membership dues.  The memership form can be found on the right side of NSC’s home page.  To  save wear and tear on your scrolling fingers, here’s the link: MEMBERSHIP FORM.

SIMPLY PRESIDENTIAL – Incumbent and president elect, Armand Gutierrez finally reveals the destination of the 2016 week long snow trip!  Many of you have already guessed it based on the breacrumbs that Armand has been dropping.  Where will it be??? The secret is in Armand’s May President’s Message and Membership report.

ALAMEDA BAY TRAIL BIKE RIDE –  don’t forget Karen and Sandy’s Alameda Bay Trail bike ride on Saturday, May 30.  Dust of your penny farthings!

The details are here in the Alameda Bay Trail Bike Ride flier.

ANNUAL PICNIC – Mark your calendars!!!  Save the date – June 28 for this year’s Membership Meeting and Luau Picnic. The details are here in Karen’s picnic flier.

Watch for Armand’s EVITE coming soon!

ALPINE MEADOWS – SQUAW VALLEY GONDOLA LINK?

Have you ever been at Squaw Valley or Alpine Meadows and looked across and wondered if it were possible to ski to the other resort? Well, your dreams may come true!

While Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows have common ownership, KSL Capital Partners, there is no way to ski or ride from one resort to the other as there’s no lift that connects the two and more importantly, there’s a small sliver of land between the two that is owned by Troy Caldwell. Until now, Troy has had dreams of erecting his own ski lift and has not been ameniable to KSL building across his land.  This is changing…

If all goes well, a connecting gondola may be in our future as described in this article:  Two Mountains, One Gondola.

This closes out my final Editor’s Newsletter. message. I bid you adeiu!

Handing over the reins to Judy!

Y.N.E.

~ Incumbent and President Elect, Armand Gutierrez ~

Now that the ski season is officially over with all the Tahoe resorts closed, it’s time to bring an end to the NSC 2014-2015 season. I thought this past season was pretty incredible and highlighted by a variety of accomplishments:

• Introduction of a Code of Conduct
• Volunteer participation at the annual Obon Festival in Mountain View
• Various hiking and picnic events
• Increased participation at BAC events
• An increase in membership
• A very well-attended ski week to Jackson Hole
• The Jackson Hole trip was featured in the BAC newsletter
• First marriage proposal on the slopes at Jackson Hole!
• Nominations and elections were held with a good response from the membership
• Several new board members to take NSC into the 2015-2016 season.

June marks the start of the 2015-2016 NSC 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 31^st. Please note that Greg Wong is the new Membership Chairperson and the forms should be sent to him.  Link for the 2015-2016 Membership form

Since it’s the end of the ski season, it’s time to start having our spring NSC events. Coming up we have a Bike Ride through Alameda on May 30^th led by Karen Soo and Sandy Kiyomura, and our annual Post-Season Membership meeting and luau picnic on June 28^th. Be sure to gander at the flyers in this month’s newsletter for details. Also, we’ll be looking for the usual volunteers for the annual Mt. View Obon Festival on 18-19 July. If interested, then be sure to send a note to Karen Soo (tripdirector@niseiskiclub.org), NSC’s trip director.

Ski Week 2016

The CANYONS

PARK CITY

For those of you that have not figured out our destination then let it be known to all that NSC will be going to Park City, Utah. Plans are all ready in progress and details will be in the June newsletter. Why Park City? Well, it’s been quite awhile since the club has been there so we’re probably due for a trip to Park City. Plus, for the 2015-16 season Park City is combining with the Canyons to become the largest ski resort in the U.S. with 7,300 acres. And for those of you that get the Vail Resorts Epic Pass (