Carolyn Chan and Lenora Fong
After hearing about these weeklong ski trips in the past 20 years, I finally had some time to take advantage to see what the excitement was about.
With an early semester break, I decided to use this as a motivation trip for my son, a high school senior to go on a ski trip and breathe the outdoor cool air. The other option was to stay home during his break and play video games all day. No way that was going to happen.
Coincidentally, my girlfriend Lenora was in town from Hong Kong with her own month-long sabbatical minus her kids. Without any ski plans in mind, I was on a mission to convince Lenora to come on the trip. Karen had packed some extra Marmot ski gear, helmet, socks and goggles to distribute. We were ready. The space in 2-bedroom condo space at Vail International was limited but the sofa and floor space were a nice welcome. This was the perfect opportunity to ski Vail’s epic long runs. How perfect was this storm? We didn’t get any new snow but the weather was perfect.
Vail was everything everyone says it would be and more!
What made this trip great? The short walk from our condo to the lift chair. The snow, the skiing, the views, the condo, the food, but mostly the people from Nisei Ski Club. Nisei Ski Club is the most organized group of people I have ever met. From the board members to volunteers and first-time visitors. Everyone had with one thing in mind, SKI and HAVE FUN!! (And Eating well! – Well, at least our Condo 108 did).
Every meal was made with TCL as our hosts took care of every detail. I drove over from Denver where my sister lives and was given the task of picking all the welcoming party supplies from Costco. 3 bags of Chicken wings, 2 boxes of beef taquitos, veggie platters, chips and guacamole, wine and beer. Enough food to welcome all 63 Nisei ski Club members to the trip. No detail was spared from the welcome party to ice breaker games, the famous Rock, Paper, Scissors quarters game. Jim S and Aaron L was battling out with the Rock, Paper Scissor game and Jim came out to be the winner. I heard that his wife, Janice won last year with the LEFT RIGHT CENTER dice game….Mmm some NSC conspiracy theory going on here?
We had our pot luck night with entrees and desserts served in 5 designated condos. There were entrées like sake lemon chicken wings, steam fish flown in from the Bay Area, chicken gyro, kalua pig sliders, pot roast, chicken curry, chow mein, and tons of dessert from custard mochi to Jello shots minus the vodka. We ate and ate until we retreated back to our condo and collapsed.
Our condo was well prepared with meals planned for the week. We had BBQ Ribs, Greek Moussaka and Amy T’s Breakfast burritos. Karen brought some of her last vintage Silver Oak. We had people dropping by for dinner, dessert, snacks or just après happy hour. We were the party condo. The dream team, Karen, Curtis, Amy and David – thank you for letting us stay with you. The attention to detail was phenomenal and impeccable. Makes Julie McCoy’s job on Love Boat looks like a sinking ship.
Amy T prepared our lunches for the day and it was our job to carry it in our Marmot jackets with care, while skiers were cautious, and fall, they would not dare! It was fun skiing with NSC members Greg W, David Tom. Our days of skiing were also filled with fun and excitement as each member looked after each other and the runs were not crowded. On my third day, while everyone in my condo took a break, I had the privilege of skiing with the awesome foursome Nisei Golden Girls – Edna K, Kay K, Haruko N and Carol E. These four ladies were admirable and a force to be reckoned with. They were modest in their early inquiry about my ski level and afraid they would be too slow for me, when in fact it turned out to be the complete opposite! They had to wait for me on the runs. I only wish I could ski and keep up at their age!
All in all, it was an amazing trip to be had and can’t wait till next year! I’m hooked on this ski club!
The bar is set high with Karen Soo’s Crew, Try it, you’ll like it.. I bet you will too!
(Sorry, I was feeling a bit cheeky w Dr. Seuss!)
