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November, 2021
EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
– Toby Kravet – 808-224-1065
Jonathan Carr
Geoffrey Chu
Michiro Iwanaga
Anita Hodges
Alan Teramura
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:
Every Monday evening (except on holidays and, of course, during Hawaii Ski Week), at 4:30 P.M., a group of ski club members and their friends play tennis at Keehi Lagoon Courts, off Lagoon Drive. Stay in shape and enjoy a "careful social hour" afterwards.
October 7 (Thursday) 5:00 PM (Meeting at 5:45) General Membership Meeting at Mangiamo by 604 in lieu of our Annual Kickoff Meeting at Rainbow Bay Marina which has been cancelled
November 4 (Thursday) 5:00 PM (Meeting at 5:45) General Membership Meeting at Mangiamo by 604.
December 2 (Thursday) 5:00 PM (Meeting at 5:45) General Membership Meeting at Mangiamo by 604.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
I begin this month's message by welcoming new members Cynthia and James Bersonn, Nikki DeHeart, and Francine Hagstrom. You are now on the mailing list for the Newsletter and other announcements which are sent to all members bcc. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us. Email addresses for all board members, including me, can be found on our website, www.hawaiisnowskiclub.com .
For those of you who didn't make it over to Mangiamo for last month's General Membership Meeting, you missed a "big one." 30 members came to bump elbows, click glasses, talk story, and listen to announcements concerning the upcoming trips and other matters. Kind of took us and the restaurant by surprise as quite a few less had RSVPed, they had to set up a third table, and the one wait staff who had been assigned did an absolute "yoewoman's" job in taking care of us. No worries. We're doing it again on, of course, November 4, the first Thursday of month, so be there or be square and, of course, don't forget your mask, legal ID, and proof of vaccination or negative test. Also, please RSVP Anita, anita@hawaiisnowskiclub.com , in advance so we can give the restaurant a reasonably accurate "heads up." Also, try to get there around 5:00 PM, if you can.
Congratulations to our own Caroline Sluyter who made it into the Star Advertiser on October 7 for having just joined the well known local advertising and public relations firm, MVNP (formerly spelled out Milici Valenti Ng Pack) as Director of Public Relations. Not to late to wish you best of luck in your new job.
Also in the Star Advertiser, on a less joyful note, the September 24 edition reported the death of John Carroll, former four term Republican Representative to the state House, representing Waikiki, Moilili, and McCully (1971-'79, Republican state Senator representing Nuuanu to Diamond Head (1979-'80) and, it seems, perennial but unsuccessful candidate thereafter for various state and/or City & County offices. Most important to us, however, is the fact that he was one of the incorporators of the Hawaii Ski Club, then known as the Ski Association of Hawaii, on May 14, 1969, for the purposes of promoting skiing in Hawaii and for developing ski areas on Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and "any other areas that might be suitable for recreational skiing." In fact, I have read that he sponsored a legislative bill to appropriate $300,000 to study the feasibility of ski areas. I don't know if the bill was successful and the study completed but, of course, we don't have official ski areas in Hawaii today and, although individuals, as far as I know, continue to "poach" the snow on Mauna Kea, current rules forbid organized groups to up to ski, and some Native Hawaiian even object to the current scientific use of Mauna Kea let alone formerly opening it up for recreational use.
Although COVID regulations still bar us from organized volunteering, one of the organizations, Meals on Wheels, for which we regularly volunteered, is looking for drivers to deliver meals (See "Announcements" below). Although this is not a formalized group activity, we would like to know if any Club members have participated, so if you do sign up, please let Anita, anita@hawaiisnowskiclub.com , know.
We are currently in the process of putting together a survey to determine how the Club can best serve the membership. If you can think of any questions we should be asking, please contact Geof, geof@hawaiisnowskiclub.com .
Finally, sorry if I am sounding like a broken record, but our trip to Aspen-Snowmass is getting closer and closer, and if you haven't travelled out of state yet and are unfamiliar with the "Safe Travels" rules, it's time to do so. You can find the information you need at https://travel.hawaii.gov/#/ . No problem in going, but, if the State Travels rules are still in place at the time of the trip, you will need to be registered with the program, have your vaccination card on file, and fill out an online questionnaire (you'll need a smartphone or laptop for this), and be sent a QR code 24 hours before your return to get through the screening at our airport to get back in without a lot of pilikia.
Hope to see a lot of you on November 4.
A hui hou kakou and take care of yourself.
TOBY
UPCOMING SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
MANGIAMO BY 604
NAVY MARINE GOLF COURSE
943
VALKENBURGH ST.
November 4 (Thursday) 5 PM (Meeting at 5:45)
Come to Mangiano by
604 for our third General Membership Meeting of the year. The Navy
Marine Golf Course is across Nimitz Highway from the airport. Stay on
Nimitz under the viaduct, turn off Mauka onto Valkenburgh, drive down a
little over 3/10 of a mile, take a right into the golf course parking lot,
and the restaurant is on the second floor of the clubhouse building.
You can also get to Valkenburgh from Radford Drive. The meeting won't
start until 5:45 PM, but they are expecting us to start showing up around
5:00 to order drinks and pupus or dinner. Also, you will need to bring
your mask to wear until seated and eating/drinking, a legal ID, and vaccination card or proof of negative test within the past 24
hours as Mangiamo is following the Safe Access
rules. If you have created a Hawaii Smart Health Card on the Safe
Travels site, you can also use that. Please
RSVP Anita, anita@
TOBY
NATIONAL NEWS (courtesy of the Far West Ski Association):
STEAMBOAT EXPANSION GETS GO-AHEAD FROM U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Steamboat Resort Corp. has plans for a multi-year expansion of the resort to make it the 2nd largest resort in Colorado. The first expansion in 20 years, they will be adding a new 10-person gondola…the Wild Blue Gondola, which will load at the base area and finish at the summit of Sunshine Peak for a 3.16-mile-long ride. Mid-station would be at the Bashor Bowl. The Wild Blue Gondola will allow the resort to remove the Priest Creek lift and replace the old Sundown Express 4-person with a more efficient and higher capacity 6-person chairlift. Steamboat currently has 2,965 skiable acres, but, with the expansion, would jump to the state’s second largest with 3,616-acres. Along with this, there are plans for an après ski plaza, new restaurants and bars, new lodging, a ski beach, and an ice rink. All this will be happening by 2022-2023 season in Steamboat.
VAIL ANNOUNCES $315 MILLION DOLLARS IN LIFT
UPGRADES: Cited as a “monster project”, Vail Resorts will drop 19
new lifts on 14 mountains by the start of the 2022-23 ski season. There’s a
six-pack of six-packs, the company’s first eight-pack chairlift, a new
gondola. There are fixed-grip quads replacing antique double-tower
side-by-sides, new fast lifts replacing old fast lifts, and new lifts where
there were none before. There are terrain expansions. There are projects
everyone was asking for and projects no one was asking for but just about
everyone will love. This huge investment comes on top of the $120
million that will plant six new lifts at five mountains (Okemo, Beaver
Creek, Crested Butte, Keystone, and Breckenridge), and relocate another
ahead of this coming ski season. Vail CEO, Rob Katz, confirmed that all
lifts slated to be replaced are scheduled to operate for the 2021-22 ski
season, which means they will have one enormous construction summer on the
horizon.
SQUAW VALLEY BECOMES PALISADES TAHOE: The
famed Squaw Valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe is changing its name, after a
long debate and input from Native American tribes. The California resort
made the decision to change the name last summer, as many U.S. institutions
and communities contemplated the legacy of centuries of racism. In recent
decades, several other locations, in states from Minnesota to Oregon, have
dropped the term from place names. The change is being praised by the Washoe
Tribe, whose ancestral lands include the valley where the resort is located.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR HSC MEMBERS
One of the
most rewarding activities for anyone is to volunteer to help those in our
community who need extra help. The HSC has been volunteering at the
Salvation Army Thanksgiving dinner at Blaisdell Arena for over 25 years. Due
to the pandemic restrictions, the event was cancelled in 2020 and will not
occur in 2021. We all remember fun times where we had our pre-volunteering
“tailgate” on the lawn of the Blaisdell and hope to return in 2022! Our
club members also have been volunteering at Lanakila Meals on Wheels for
over 6 years, but we have been unable to continue packaging frozen meals due
to COVID restrictions. However, Anita was contacted by Eddie, the LMOW
volunteer coordinator, who asked for volunteers to DELIVER the weekly,
pre-packaged, frozen meals to elderly people at their homes. This volunteer
effort means going to LMOW main building in Kalihi, picking up coolers
containing the frozen meals, and delivering the packages to a few people in
one area of the island. Previously a HSC member who lives in Mililani
picked up meals which he then delivered to the elderly near his home. THIS
IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY TO VOLUNTEER TO HELP THE
ELDERLY. Dad/mother or grandfather/grandmother can drive to the house and
the kids can knock on the door to hand the prepared meals to the recipient.
If you or your family wishes to help deliver meals, please contact Eddie at the LMOW Volunteer Coordinator’s desk phone at 356-8527. Text or call the Volunteer Coordinator’s work cell phone at 824-6218 (be sure to identify yourself as a ski club member if texting for the first time.) OR
Email volunteer@lanakilapacific.org
ANITA
SKI TRIPS FOR 2022
The Aspen Snowmass ski trip,
scheduled for January 21-29, 2022, only three months away, is now sold out. There is a waiting list,
however, in case of cancellations or other developments which might cause
slots to become available. Visit the Hawaii Ski Club website,
www.hawaiisnowskiclub.com ,
for more details on the trip.
Rusutsu, Japan Feb 19-27,
2022
We have reserved rooms at the 4 star ski in ski
out Rusutsu Resort Hotel for 7 nights, including buffet breakfast, dinner, 6
days lift tickets and airport shuttle for $2090. Round trip non stop airfare
on Hawaiian Airlines is $900. Total package price is $2,990 with
Schewetravel. We have an optional 3 day extension planned to Kiroro which is
midway between Rusutsu and Sapporo. Lodging will be at the slope side
Sheraton Hotel with lift tickets and breakfast buffet. The 3 day extension
will cost approximately $700 pp. We currently have 24 Ski Club members who
have already registered. See the Hawaii Ski Club website for registration
details.
ALAN
F
HAWAII SKI CLUB IS ON FACEBOOK
Facebook is the best way to keep current on the Hawaii Ski Club. On your Facebook page on your computer, type "Hawaii Ski Club" into the search box on the top left. On your mobile device, tap the magnifying glass at the top to get the search box. Pictures from Ski Club activities and other items are posted as they are submitted. You can submit your own Ski Club pictures and other items you wish posted by emailing them to anita@hawaiisnowskiclub.com
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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 and on our Facebook page.