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October, 2024
EXECUTIVE ORGANIZATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
– Toby Kravet – 808-224-1065
Vice
President - Anita Hodges
Treasurer - Jonathan Carr
Secretary - Sandra Robbins
Michiro Iwanaga
Alan Teramura
Caroline Sluyter
Mike Tsutsui
Karl See
Nicole De-Witt
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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 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.
October 3 (Thursday) 5:00 pm Annual membership year Kickoff Meeting at Rainbow Bay Marina.
November 7 (Thursday) 5:00 pm General Membership Meeting at Mangiamo.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:
Last month I talked about having had icy conditions during my two weeks in New Zealand. Well, the snow storms waited to come until I left, and, according to Kiwi friends, the last 10 days have been pretty epic with pictures and videos to prove it. You win some, you lose some, and Mother Nature doesn't play favorites: Let's hope she is kind to us on our upcoming trips to Sun Peaks and Japan. When listing new members last month, I failed to mention and welcome Michelle Barratt. More new members to welcome to the Club include Reuben Nemoto, Douglas Moore, Colleen McKenna, and Barry and Faye Kurren. Mahalo to all of you who have already renewed and will be renewing your memberships in advance of the membership year Kick-Off Meeting next week at Rainbow Bay Marina. Please note that, even if you are paying by check and are mailing it or intend to bring it to the Kick-Off, you should complete the form digitally by clicking your mouse or hitting the appropriate boxes with your finger on your touch pad devices and then clicking/pressing the red button at the end to submit electronically. Some of you paying by check have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to print out the digital form to complete it by hand and mail it in with your check. I realize that the wording with the red button may be a bit confusing as it urges you to submit the form and your payment, and I apologize for that: We'll see if the wording can be improved. Also, as mentioned below in the article on the Kick-Off, please RSVP me, pres@hawaiisnowskiclub.com , if you are coming. Hope to see many of you next week.
TOBY
UPCOMING SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
ANNUAL KICK-OFF
MEETING
RAINBOW BAY MARINA
57 Arizona Memorial Drive
(next to Restaurant 604)
PEARL HARBOR
October 3 (Thursday) 5:00
pm (dinner served at 6:00 pm)
Come to our Annual Kick-Off (to the new membership year) Meeting, where the food will be "on the house," at Rainbow Bay Marina, Pearl Harbor. Wear your Ski Club tee shirt and name tag from a previous trip if you have one. If you are a new member since April 1 of this year, you are already current through next year and don't need to rejoin. If you prefer to pay by check, rather than credit card, for the 2024-2025 year, you can bring your check to this meeting, but don't forget to first complete the digital membership form accessed through our website. If you haven't been to Rainbow Bay Marina, it is the outdoor picnic area with cabanas on the right hand side (facing towards the ocean) of Restaurant 604. For those of you who unfamiliar with the area, enter Pearl Harbor off Kamehameha Highway as if you were going to the Arizona Memorial, take a right on the inner road (Arizona Memorial Place), and drive approximately 1/4 mile. As soon as you go under the Ford Island viaduct, you are there. You can park behind the restaurant. This is BYOB, and if you have brought wine or other bottled beverages, please transfer your drinks to plastic or paper cups, as glass is not allowed on the grounds, and DO NOT deposit any glass in the refuse containers as that will cause us to lose the $100.00 deposit we made for the venue. Also, as we need a headcount for the food, please RSVP to me, Toby, pres@hawaiisnowskiclub.com with the number in your party by Monday, September, 30 and sorry for the short notice.
TOBY
GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
MANGIAMO BY 604
NAVY MARINE GOLF COURSE
943
VALKENBURGH ST.
November 7 (Thursday), 5 pm
Following the October Kick-Off Meeting, we are back to our customary haunt, Mangiamo, for November. Although the meeting itself won't start until 5:30 PM, we'd like you to get there a bit earlier so you can get situated and order your food and drink. We like to get our business out of the way before the live music starts and makes announcements difficult. If you haven't yet been to Mangiamo, it is opposite the airport and off of Valkenburgh Street which runs between Nimitz Highway (under the viaduct) and Radford Drive. Drive almost all the way to Radford Drive and you'll see the entrance to the right. Mangiamo is on the second floor of the golf course's club house. See you there.
TOBY
SKI TRIPS FOR 2025:
CANADA
Ski Week 2025 - Sun Peaks Resort, BC
- 1/18/25 to 1/25/25
Revelstoke Extension (optional) - 1/25/25 - 1/31/25
SUN PEAKS
We are five months away from our annual Hawaii ski club trip. I hope
everyone is getting excited!
We have 42 club members signed up for the Sun Peaks
trip and 22 members from that group are signed up for the Revelstoke
extension trip. We have three rooms left at the Sun Peaks Grand and the
deadline for this sign-up is November 12.
For the Revelstoke extension, we have one open spot
for one person, and the deadline for this extension sign-up is August 31 at
the current rate. If we need to add additional rooms for Revelstoke, we are
able to, although these would be two-bedroom units only.
We will depart from
Honolulu on the evening of January 17, landing in Calgary on January 18, and
take our final flight to Kelowna that morning. We have private bus transport
from Kelowna airport to Sun Peaks, a three hour ride. On the day of arrival,
the trip committee has planned a welcome reception at Morrisey's Pub, a
wonderful opportunity to socialize and listen to live music. The meet up
time will be at 1800.
We
are planning some evening events throughout the ski week:
1. On Tuesday, January 21,
we would like to coordinate the Alpine Fondue and Starlight Descent. The
excursion includes a ride on the Sunburst Express chairlift and a fondue
dinner at the Sunburst Bar and Eatery. Alcohol is available for an
additional cost. Following dinner, you will click back into your bindings
and ski down the mountain with a head torch and guide. The descent is about
five miles and is only recommended for intermediate (blue run) skiers.
2. We also have the
opportunity to see a Kamloops Blazers Hockey Game. The 2024-2025 schedule
has not yet been released, although I anticipate there will be a game
offered on January 22, 2025. The excursion would include round-trip travel
and the game tickets. We will most likely book the game in December, so as
we get closer, I will send out a signup list.
3. There will also be opportunities to try your
hand at axe throwing, snowshoeing, tubing, or ice fishing! I will also be
posting information regarding these activities and more on our Hawaii Ski
Club Facebook page soon.
At the end of the week, on January 24, we will have our Farewell Dinner, The
location and start time for this event has not yet been finalized.
I hope you are all looking
forward to another fun trip with our Ski Club!
NIKKI
REVELSTOKE
Skiers and snowboarders return year after year to feel
the thrill of the steep, get lost in the pow, and lap the Stoke until
their tank is empty. Known for the longest vertical descent in North
America at 5,620 feet, Revelstoke attracts winter adventurers from all
over the world. Don't miss your chance to experience the hype this
winter! Grab your gear, friends, and passes, and meet us on the
mountain! Enjoy endless acres of skiable terrain, free refills on snow,
and steep thrills. From wide-open alpine bowls to perfectly spaced
glades, we've got something for everyone. The real challenge is making
sure your legs can keep up! The resort is well known for it’s Heli
Skiing for those who want to partake.
Our accommodations at the
Sutton Place Hotel include one and two bedroom condominium units with
full kitchen. It is rated four stars and located slopeside and provides
ski in/ski out access to the slopes and is located in the mountain
village. Unlike the Sun Peak Village, it is small with only three
restaurants. The town of Revelstoke is a fifteen minute free shuttle
ride where there over 40 dining options. It has a grocery store the size
of a Safeway for those who want to bring items back to the condo and
cook
Revelstoke is a 3-1/2 hour bus ride from Sun Peaks but
actually closer the Kelowna Airport where you will be flying out of.
GEOF
JAPAN
Japan Trips Update: Shiga Kogen 2/15-23 and Rusutsu 2/22-3/2, 2025.
Aloha All,
We currently
have received deposits for 81 reservations. Of these, 36 are for Shiga Kogen
and 45 for Rusutsu. At this time we still have 5 double occupancy rooms
available at Shiga Kogen but only 4 available at Rusutsu. We also have
several single persons who have registered and are looking for a roommate at
each location. The deadline to make a reservation is October 1 when the
balance of the trip is due. However, you can still make a reservation with a
$350 deposit. Over the past few years our Japan trips have sold out early so
don't wait until the last minute if you want to join us.
The popularity of these trips is do to:
Excellent package price: $3250 Shiga Kogen and $3500 Rusutsu including round
trip airfare on JAL, airport to hotel shuttle service, 7 nights lodging,
5 days lift tickets, daily buffet breakfast and 3 buffet dinners at both
resorts. Hotel accommodations at both resorts are ski-in ski-out.
If you're interested in joining us for a ski trip
to Japan in February you need to fill out the registration form found at the
end of the Japan trips description on our
www.hawaiiskiclub.com website by
clicking on "Trips" tab, send in a $350 deposit by October 1, and be an
active Hawaii Ski Club member. You can join or renew your ski club
membership online by clicking on the "Membership" tab and pay only $25
single and $35 family memberships.
Here is some additional information on each ski
resort:
Shiga Kogen is 160
miles north of Tokyo in the Nagano ski area of the main island of Honshu. Rather than a single large ski resort, it consists of 21 ski resorts with 70+
lifts connected by a shuttle bus and single lift ticket, making it the
largest ski resort in Japan. While the majority of the resort is under 4,000
ft., the highest peak is over 7,400
feet making Skiga Kogen also the ski resort
with the highest lift in Japan. Powder Hound ranks it as the best
intermediate ski resort in all of Japan and among the top ten overall ski
resort in Japan.
We have reservations at the Prince
Hotel, located in Yakebitaiyama, the largest of the Shiga Kogen villages and
host to several downhill events during the 1998 Nagano Olympics. We will be
staying in the newest of the hotel buildings. We also will have an optional
tour to the famous Jigokudani Monkey Park, where the famous snow monkeys
reside. The Monkey Park is about 30 minutes away from our hotel by bus.
Instead of a ski resort with a nearby town, Rusutsu
is a huge Convention Center complex with shops, restaurants and hotel rooms
all under one roof in Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan. A fabulous
new onsen featuring several indoor pools at different temperatures including
a cold plunge, and outdoor lay flat pools lets snow fall on you as you soak
in the hot mineral springs water. Our hotel package includes a daily
breakfast buffet, where you could choose between delicious Japanese or
Western style food for breakfast or you could eat Chinese style buffet or a
set menu Japanese breakfast. We also have 3 buffet dinners on alternate
nights where we could sit together and talk story.
Rusutsu consists of three mountains, West Mountain
which is ski in ski out from the resort complex, East Mountain accessed by a
gondola from the resort and Mt Isola, accessible by gondola and hooded chair
lifts. The further you go away from the hotel complex the fewer people you
encounter, making it possible to find fresh, untracked powder even after
several days without snowfall. Rusutsu is famous for its long wide runs with
easy access to its renowned tree skiing down into the valleys. There also is
night skiing available if you didn't get enough skiing during the day. For
dinner you could choose from 7 restaurants featuring French, Chinese,
Italian, Seafood, Japanese, pub and buffet style dinners, including all you
can eat crab legs, scallops on the half shell and wagu beef. Powder Hound
ranks Rusutsu as among the Top 10 ski resorts in all of Japan and ranks
number 1 for its lift system.
ALAN
PAST SKI CLUB ACTIVITIES:
PAU HANA
at
ROMANO'S MACARONI GRILL
ALA MOANA CENTER
4th Floor, Diamond Head/Ocean side
Thursday, August
29
It had been several years since my last visit to the raised restaurant section of Ala Moana Center, but after a few wrong turns and the assistance of others, I finally found my way to Macaroni Grill for the Pau Hana. Apparently, no one else had the difficulty I had encountered. We managed to score three adjacent tables in a corner of the restaurant where twelve of us comfortably fitted and played "musical chairs" among the tables. The food, drink selection, and service met expectations, and I counted a total of fourteen before we all finished our conversation, drinks, and pupus and dispersed for home or other engagements.
TOBY
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 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.