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HAPPY HOLIDAYS
December, 2025
EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
–
Toby Kravet – 808-224-1065
Vice President - Michiro
Iwanaga
Treasurer - Jonathan Carr
Secretary - Sandra Robbins
Michiro Iwanaga
Alan Teramura
Caroline Sluyter
Mike Tsutsui
Karl See
Nicole De-Witt
Anita Hodges
-----------------------------------------
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 PM, 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.
December 14 (Sunday) 5 PM Annual Christmas Party at the Esplanade in Hawaii Kai (see below).
January 16 (Friday) 5 pm Hawaii Ski Week (Mammoth Mountain) Pre Trip Party at Judy and Jeff's home in Hawaii Kai (see below).
January 23 Off to Mammoth.
February 7 Pre Trip party for Japan trips (Sapporo and Rusutsu) at the Esplanade in Hawaii Kai. Stay tuned for more information.
February 13 Off to Sapporo.
February 21 Off to Rusutsu (if you're not already on Hokkaido and just "moving over").
March 5 (Thursday) 5 pm General Membership Meeting at Mangiamo.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
Yes, the Newsletter is a little early this time as I will be getting on a plane for the continent tomorrow (November 23), and early is better than late. Ski season is here. A number of ski areas in the USA have already opened for the season while others are awaiting a bit more snow. Mammoth, our destination for Hawaii Ski Week, opened on November 20. As you can see from the schedule above, General Membership Meetings at Mangiamo will not resume until March when most of us are back from our snow adventures. Our upcoming Christmas Party, at the Esplanade in Hawaii Kai, will serve as a December meeting. Also, in the list of Board of Directors above, there has been a change: Join me in thanking Larry Thurston for his time, however brief, on our Board and welcoming back Anita Hodges. Larry found it necessary to resign for personal reasons and Anita, who had just moved back from Texas (didn't work out), was more than willing to become re-involved with the Club and finish Larry's unexpired term. Join me in welcoming Jeff and Marianne Winters, from Oahu, to the Club. As of today (November 22), we have 144 active members and 61 non renewals. If you failed to renew by the end of September, all you need to do is go to our website, www.hawaiiskiclub.com , click on the "Join/Renew" link, complete the short registration form, and choose how to pay, credit card or check. If you are over 80 and free, you still have to complete the registration form. Remember, you need to be an active member to go on one of our trips. Hope to see most of you Oahu members at the Christmas Party on December 14.
TOBY
UPCOMING SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
The
Esplanade, 500 Lunalillo Home Road
December 14 (Sunday) 5 PM
Sylvia "Sam" Wright is, again, welcoming us to the ground floor recreation room/terrace at the Esplanade for our annual Christmas party. This is both pot luck and BYOB. Also, if you want to participate (almost all do) in the traditional gift exchange, bring a grab bag gift with approximate value of $20.00. You will be given a raffle ticket, and when your number is called, have the option of choosing a gift from the "pile" or one that has already been chosen, thereby forcing the original chooser to choose from the pile again: This can get pretty funny, satisfying, or frustrating depending upon whether you are victor, victim, or spectator----at that particular moment. Alan will be presenting more information regarding our Japan trips at the party so, if you are going to Japan, this is extra incentive to come. To get to the Esplanade from town, turn left off Kalanianaole Highway at Lunalillo Home Road, the last traffic light before the highway goes up the hill towards Hanauma Bay. drive in the mountain direction approximately .8 of a mile, and look for the looming white building complex on the left. While parking is limited at the building (eleven guest stalls in the circle at the entrance), it is normally available on the other side of the street and on side streets off the other side. The recreation area is right on the ground level beside the lobby.
TOBY
PRE-HAWAII SKI WEEK PARTY
748 KALANIPUU ST.
HONOLULU, HAWAII 96825
JANUARY
16,
Friday, 5 pm.
Mucho Mahalos to Jeff Lilley and Judy Sobin for inviting us again to their home in Hawaii Kai for the Hawaii Ski Week Pre-Trip Party. The Club will provide the main course of food but beverages are BYOB and you are encouraged to bring a pupu or dessert item which you can share. To get to Judy's and Jeff's house at 748 Kalanipuu St., turn off Kalanianaole Highway onto Lunalillo Home Road and drive approximately 1.5 miles (about .7 miles past the Esplanade, the site of our Christmas party) where you will find Kalanipuu St. crossing over Lunalillo Home Rd. Take a left, towards the water, and follow Kalanipuu, which curves back to the left, in the direction you came from, for another .16 miles and you'll see the house on the right with a bear holding a surfboard on the left of the garage. Please RSVP to me, pres@hawaiisnowskiclub.com , no later than Monday, January 12, if you are coming as we need a headcount for the food.
TOBY
PAST SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
PAU HANA
at
BEASTSIDE KITCHEN
NIU VALLEY SHOPPING
CENTER
5724 KALANIANAOLE HIGHWAY
November 21 (Friday) 4:30 pm
Mahalo to Karl for coming up with this unusual location for a November Pau Hana. At 4:30, a sign on the door indicated that it was open for takeout only, and a couple of us hung outside for 10-15 minutes to advise others of the situation and to see if we could come up with an alternative. One of us, however, went in to find out that they were open after all and expected us. As many as 12 members eventually came to swap stories, enjoy adult beverages, sample some of the unqiue food offerings, listen to the Hawaiian music which began early, or watch the U.H. football team not do so well against UNLV.
TOBY
SKI TRIPS FOR 2026:
HAWAII SKI WEEK, 2026
MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN
Mammoth Lakes, California
January 23 - January 31
Hawaii Ski Week, 2026 will be at Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes California which is in the eastern Sierras towards the Nevada border, a 5.5 hour drive northeast of LAX and a 3.5 hour drive southwest of Reno. If you have taken the air part of the package offered by our travel agent but no longer available on the group package, we will be flying from Honolulu to San Francisco and then on to Bishop, which is just 28 miles from Mammoth, and taking a 28 miles bus ride the rest of the way to our hotel, the Mammoth Mountain Inn where we stayed in 2018. We will be steps from the lift and a short 15 minute bus ride to town. The mountain tops out at 11,053 feet with the base at 7, 953 feet and a vertical drop of 3,100 feet. There are 25 lifts and 175 named trails with 19% novice, 48% intermediate, 24% advanced, and 12% expert over 3,500 acres of skiable terrain.
Our travel agent, again, is Ski.com, and you can sign up for the trip online,
https://meetups.ski.com/
TOBY
JAPAN
The first trip to Sapporo and Otaru is scheduled from February 13-22,
2026. We will spend the first 5 nights in Sapporo, where we will have a
full day guided tour of the city and its surroundings. On the second day
we will ski at the nearby Sapporo Tiene Ski Resort famous for hosting
the bobsled competition in the 1972 Winter Olympics. For those
interested in signtseeing and shopping the next two days are free days.
For those more interested in skiing/boarding we have the option to visit
several nearby ski resorts such as Sapporo Kokusai or Niseko. We will
spend the last 3 nights of the trip in Otaru, a small fishing port and
artisan village located on Ishikari Bay approximately 1 hour west of
Sapporo. On our first day we will enjoy a full day of guided sightseeing
of Otaru and its surroundings. The next 2 days we will take a private
shuttle bus and ski at nearby Kiroro Ski Resort, famous for its abundant
snowfall.
The second ski trip is to the legendary Hokkaido
resort, Rusutsu from February 21-March 1, 2026. It is a ski in ski out 4
star resort hotel combined with a mall-like mix of shops, restaurants
and entertainment. The resort is spread over 3 mountains, with long wide
runs which are separated by powder filled tree runs in the valleys.
Therefore it’s no wonder why 2/3 of those who go to Rusutsu are
returnees. Rusutsu is ranked as among the best resorts in all of Japan
for intermediate skiers due to its long, wide groomed runs, its also one
of the best resorts for skiing in the trees, and is ranked for having
the best lift system in all of Japan. Additionally the daily breakfast
buffet is awesome having a variety of Japanese and Western food options.
It also has one of the best onsens of any ski resort in Japan.
For the past 4 years approximately 25% of HSC members who went to Japan
booked both trips, taking advantage of the famous dry powder and
excellent dollar to yen exchange rate. Because of the savings on the
second airfare, the second trip is only $2600-$2700 more.
Call Shannon or Joey at Air and Sea Travel Center at (808) 951-9800 for questions and to make roommate arrangements. Please note: Although the deadline for reservations was October 31, both trips are currently sold out. You might want to add your name to a waiting list in case of cancellations. The HSC strongly recommends purchasing trip Insurance of you don’t already have.
For more details and a copy of the reservation form, please go to the Trips section of our website, www.hawaiiskiclub.com .
ALAN
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
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 nicole@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 12 calendar days from the end of the month. Thanx much.
Updated club info available at http://www.hawaiisnowskiclub.com and on our Facebook page.