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HAPPY HOLIDAYS
January - March, 2026
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.
January 16 (Friday) 5 pm Hawaii Ski Week (Mammoth Mountain) Pre Trip Party and General Membership Meeting at Judy and Jeff's home in Hawaii Kai (see below).
January 23 Off to Mammoth.
February 7 (Saturday) 5 pm Pre Trip party for Japan trips (Sapporo and Rusutsu) and General Membership Meeting at the Esplanade in Hawaii Kai (see below).
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:
Here's wishing all of you who celebrate it a very Merry Christmas two days from now, and whether your celebrate it or not, may the spirit of the season grace you all. As I write the last President's Message of 2025, we are just 5 weeks before leaving for Mammoth and 8 before the first Japan trip so if you haven't yet renewed your membership for 2026, now is the time. You can easily renew by going to our website, www.hawaiiskiclub.com , clicking on the Join/Renew link, and completing the form. Remember, if you are 80 or over, membership is free, but you still need to complete the form. As usual, it was a great Christmas party at the Esplanade a little over a week ago and good to see so many of you make it over. As the Club is supplying the food for both of the upcoming pre trip parties, we need a pre-party headcount for both so please RSVP me for the Mammoth party and Alan for the Japan party: Email addresses are provided in the articles below. For those of you going to Mammoth, we are inviting nominations for Hawaii Ski Week 2027 at the Farewell Banquet: Those at the banquet will vote on the areas nominated, and the top 3 will be sent to the entire membership for a vote after we return home. If you have a destination in mind, now is the time to collect some facts about the area to present at the banquet. Have a nice Christmas, a happy and safe New Year's celebration, and "See you on the other side."
TOBY
UPCOMING SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
PRE-HAWAII SKI WEEK PARTY/GENERAL MEMBERSHIP
MEETING
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 which will also serve as the Club's General Membership Meeting for January. You are invited whether or not you are going on the trip. 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
JAPAN PRE TRIP PARTY/GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
The
Esplanade, 500 Lunalillo Home Road
February 7, Saturday, 5 pm.
The pre-Japan
Trips Party and February General Membership Meeting (all members are
invited) will be held on Saturday February 7 at the Esplanade in
Hawaii Kai from 5-8 PM. Please RSVP to me, Alan, alan@hawaiisnowskiclub.com
, no later than Monday, February 2 because the HSC will be providing
food for those who plan to attend. BYOB please.
We are asking
everyone who has gone to Japan previously to recycle their green
streamers and will pass out streamers to new members who are going to
Japan for the first time with us. We will also pass out name tags and a
44 page tour booklet with important information on flight times,
immigration and customs, what to expect and pack.
If you can't
make it to the February 7 party then we will give these to you at the
airport in Honolulu or in Japan if you've made your own flight
arrangements. If you're on the neighbor islands or mainland and can't
attend the meeting I can arrange to send you an electronic version of
the booklet so that you can read it before traveling. Just LMK via text
or email.
If you're a new HSC member make sure that you have
registered online and paid your dues because these trips are exclusively
for members only. If you're over 80 years old and have been in the HSC
for 5 years or longer you still need to renew your annual membership
online but
your membership is free.
ALAN
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
MANGIAMO BY 604
NAVY MARINE GOLF COURSE
943 VALKENBURGH ST.
March 5 (Thursday), 5 pm
Come to Mangiamo on March for our regular, first Thursday of month, General Membership Meeting. Look for us either on the Diamond Head end or on the ocean side lanai over the putting greens.
TOBY
PAST SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
The
Esplanade, 500 Lunalillo Home Road
December 14 (Sunday) 5 PM
At least 35, maybe more because I lost count, made it to our Christmas Party on Sunday, December 14, The potluck offerings were delicious, the gift exchange, run by Anita, went off without a hitch, and the camaraderie was awesome. "Many Mahalos" to Sam (Sylvia) Wright for, again, making the recreation room available to us for our Christmas party.
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.