~Ksenia Dyachkova & Bowen Gu ~
Ksenia and I are new to the Monterey area. We are here on a study program, working on our master thesis in Environmental studies. While we are staying here for only 3 months, we wanted to go to see Lake Tahoe. It was a last minute decision to join the Nisei Ski Club and Monterey Ski and Social Club on their weekend ski trip. We did not know what to expect from this trip. All we know was that a quick decision was made and there were more surprises during the trip itself. They are not ranked by their surprise level though.
During our limited stay in Monterey, Ksenia wanted to go to the mountains of California, but she had no idea, how to get there. The weekend trip with Nisei Ski Club was full of surprises both me and Ksenia.
Surprise 1: As students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies located in Monterey. Most of our time is spent on research on the computer. Ksenia was surfing the net and found information about a weekend bus trip sponsored by Nisei Ski Club (https://www.niseiskiclub.org/) on the Monterey-Ski an Social Club (http://www.montereyski.org/ ) website. She started to see if it was possible to join them on their upcoming weekend trip. Upon reading the trip description on the website, the bus departs from San Jose and she already lost hope that she could not make it. After sending a few emails to the trip director Karen Soo, Karen was kind enough able to help with the transportation She was able to coordinate our rides to San Jose with members of the Monterey Ski and Social Club and we were able to get to San Jose for the start of our adventure. Thank you to Monterey members, Ted Hill and Bill Robinson for driving us is there.
Surprise 2: The trip was sooooooo well organized and all the club members are so friendly. As soon as we boarded the bus at San Jose, the two of us felt we were part of a big happy family. Once the bus departed, we knew that it was not an ordinary ski trip, but a trip filled with laughter, friendship, warmth and FUN. We truly appreciated the efforts of the trip leaders Karen Soo and Amy Tsuhako for their organization and the friendliness from its club members.
Surprise 3: The accommodations at the Sands in Reno were more than sufficient. Comfortable bedroom with 2 queen-size beds, hot shower, TV and Wi-Fi. We were staying on the 12th floor and it was a bit noisy from the casino and club on the main floor. When we arrived, everyone was given a free Gambling card. With an initial deposit, we made $3.00 on the slot machines Yahoo!! 🙂
Surprise 4: As an experienced snowboarder, Ksenia decided to take some skiing lessons at Alpine Meadows. With the experience she had from snowboarding, Ksenia was able to move up 3+ times in a day from level one. By the end of the day, she was skiing comfortably on the challenging runs. Discounts for the all-day long classes were such a bargain; she had no hesitation to take a lesson!
Surprise 5: On Sunday, it was raining on the base and I decided to try my first attempt at SNOW SHOEING. The peacefulness of walking in the deep snow in the forest at Northstar was definitely different than the extreme excitement of skiing at Alpine Meadows on Saturday.
Surprise 6: A little rain on Sunday scare a few members and many took the day off. Skiing at Northstar turned out to be absolutely the best. Fresh tracks, moguls and fresh snow in between the trees. It was not raining on top and Northstar had 6 inches snow on the top summit. We also got our pictures taken by the Epic Mix Camera crew, provided by resort. The pictures were easily shared on Facebook for free!
Surprise 7: FOOD – While skiing and snowboarding is the most exciting and expected part of the trip, the dinner, breakfast and snacks were also impressive. Even a vegetarian option was available on the bus. We had dinner with a few of the Nisei Ski members at the Hash House a Go Go at the Harrah’s (http://www.harrahsreno.com/restaurants/hash-house-a-go-go.html)
To our surprise to the both of us, the multicolored lemonade and the huge portions were more than enough to eat for the 2 of us after a full day of burning calories on the slopes.
To sum up in a simple way, it is a truly, truly FUN and memorable trip for two international students almost new to the US and totally new to the Nisei Ski Club.
A great big THANK YOU to all the members of Nisei Ski Club and Monterey Ski and Social Club for making our trip a memorable one.
