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June, 2020 - ?
EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President – Toby Kravet – 808-224-1065
Jonathan Carr
Geoffrey Chu
Michiro Iwanaga
Anita Hodges
Alan
Teramura
Linda Giers
Caroline Sluyter
Mike
Tsutsui
Karl See
Nelson Dang
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Newsletter Editor
Toby Kravet
(Click on Contacts for e mail addresses)
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
No events scheduled due to COVID-19 related restrictions
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
As I sit down to write, I am reminded that this is the day we would be having our June (is it June already?) General Membership Meeting were it not for COVID-19. Hang in there guys. We'll be "back in the saddle again," but when, none of us yet knows. When we are, we will most likely be looking, yet again, for a place to hold our General Membership Meetings as Zippy's Vineyard, while granting us a room to ourselves, has had some drawbacks. If you have a suggestion, let me know. As Lt. Commander Spock may have said (though, as far I know, he didn't), "I'm all ears."
Despite all the things that we can't do right now, Alan, has been hard at work planning our trips for next year, and believe it or not, there has been sufficient interest, as previously reported (see below), even with the unknowns, to start putting the trips together, both to Aspen-Snowmass, and Rusutsu: We recently signed a contract for the Aspen-Snowmass trip. Per Alan's preliminary survey, we already have 48 members interested in Aspen-Snowmass with 18 wanting the air part of the package which, as I had indicated in the last newsletter, was a concern in terms of whether we could even plan a trip. Because of compatibility issues with email addresses from different email programs, Alan was only able to survey those who went on immediately past trips and not the entire membership: The actual interest may be significantly higher.
Speaking of Alan, he underwent bi-lateral knee replacement surgery 9 days ago, and per the Hodges' visit with him at his home late last week and my telephone call with him on Saturday, he is doing well in his recovery. I am sure you wish him well, and I predict, based on my experience with him and others who have had the procedure, he will still be hard to catch on the slopes next year.
Although I did not intend to put out another Newsletter until we had activities to plan, I was reminded by Anita that there might be skiing related items to report so (thank you Anita) please see the story below from the Newsletter of the Far West Ski Association, an amalgamation of clubs of which we are a member. I think I said this before, but we joined the organization a number of years ago when the airlines were planning to stop treating skis and boot bags as one check-in item, and there was a move for a group protest, i.e. a letter to the airlines representing the combined members of all the clubs. I don't know how much the Far West Ski Association's letter had in the airlines' decision to drop the idea, but it couldn't of hurt. A lot of the time in this world, "in numbers there is strength."
Speaking of the benefits of belonging to an organization, while I am sorry to report that our travel agency for the New Zealand trip did not get the full refund they and we expected, I am pleased that the Club is able to make up the difference from our Trips bank account. We keep money in the account to make deposits on future trips and to handle contingencies, and this certainly qualified as a contingency. Those of you (me included) who deposited $300.00 for the trip should be getting your refund in the very near future.
The article below is reprinted from the Far West Ski Association's May newsletter. As you can see, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, ski areas on the bottom side of the globe and even areas in the northern hemisphere, including the U.S.,which have glacier skiing, are open/opening/may be opening for the (our) summer.
Continue to stay safe out there.
A hui hou kakou,
TOBY
ITEMS OF INTEREST:
FROM THE FWSA NEWS FLASH
MAY, 2020
100+ SKI AREAS TO RE-OPEN IN JUNE: The easing of lock downs in countries around the world means that ski areas, in a growing number of countries, expect to be open in June. All will operate with measures in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Of the over 100 ski areas in 14 countries expecting to re-open in June, operations will be very different from before. Most ski areas will operate entirely for skiers living in the countries where the ski lifts are. In most cases, borders remain closed and travel remains difficult, unsafe and sometimes impossible. In total, all being well, 80+ ski areas will open in 6 countries in the southern hemisphere. Nearly 20 areas will be open in 8 or 9 countries in the northern hemisphere. Those countries with areas opening include: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Chile, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland (Zermatt and Saas). Others who are hoping to open include: France, Italy, and Japan. In the U.S: Timberline in Oregon will re-open beginning Friday, May 15, the Beartooth Basin summer ski area from May 30. Arapahoe Basin, Colorado looks like it will also re-open in late May if given permission. In addition, there still appears to be a chance that skiing and boarding on the Horstman Glacier at Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler in BC, Canada, may happen in some form if restrictions are lifted, but that remains uncertain at present.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
HAWAII SKI WEEK 2021
PRELIMINARY DETAILS
Aloha All,
We are in the final stages of
negotiations for our Aspen/Snowmass ski trip on January 22-30, 2021 and have a
great package price for your consideration. Round trip airfare on United
Airlines from Honolulu to Aspen is $900 pp. We have several lodging options at
the ski in ski out Crestwood Condominiums in newly renovated deluxe units:
1 bedroom 1 bath $1200 pp for 7 nights lodging double occupancy
2
bedroom 2 bath $950 pp quad occupancy
1 bedroom+loft 2 bathroom $850 pp
quad occupancy
Senior 6 day lift tickets $400 and adult 6 day lift
ticket $550 (fewer days also available and Ikon Pass holders get 5 days).
Total ski package (7 nights lodging, rt airfare, rt shuttle, Welcome
Reception, Farewell Dinner and 6 days senior lift tickets) ranges from $2150 pp
in 1 bedroom + loft to $2500 pp in 1 bedroom 1 bath. Add $150 for non-senior
lift tickets.
In order to take advantage these great prices,
we need to book a minimum of 24 individuals in
the condo and 20 airline seats. No minimum requirement for lift
tickets. On last year’s trip to Big Sky, Montana we had nearly 70 participants
in the Summit Hotel but only 26 booked airline seats through the travel agency.
Therefore, before signing a contract I am asking you to notify me if you are
planning to ski with us next January and if you will be booking a reservation
including airfare through our travel agent.
Please let me know by emailing me at
alan@hawaiisnowskiclub.com
by May 8. For your protection in
these uncertain times, the first deposit isn’t due until September 15 and the
trip can be completely cancelled with a full refund by October 15.
ALAN
HAWAII SKI CLUB IS ON FACEBOOK
If you are on Facebook, add the HSC as a “friend.” You will be up-to-date with recent HSC activities that members upload. The HSC Facebook page has photos from members on ski trips and at Club activities. You can also include your personal photos and announcements relating to the club for all HSC members to view.
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Contributions from the membership to future newsletters are encouraged and will be greatly appreciated: Please e mail them to Toby (see Contacts) no later than 9 calendar days from the end of the month. Thanx much.
Updated club info available at http://www.hawaiisnowskiclub.com/