Skiing : A Happy Holiday for Southland Resorts

Southland ski areas began the new year with plenty of snow on the slopes and plenty of dough in the bank after one of their best holiday fortnights in recent years.

No figures were available on bank balances, but the snow depths this week were reported as follows, reading from East to West: Goldmine 48 to 54 inches, Snow Forest 24-46, Snow Summit 30-36, Snow Valley 70, Ski Green Valley 48, Mountain High 36-72, Ski Sunrise 36-48, Mount Baldy 48-72, Mount Waterman 60, Kratka Ridge 60-84.

Just about all runs are open--24 inches can cover some terrain as adequately as 84--and the surface is mostly packed powder, with hardpack here and there.

Central Sierra resorts haven’t acquired much new snow in the last two weeks, but then they didn’t really need any. Mammoth Mountain reported 58 inches, June Mountain 65, Badger Pass 48, Sierra Summit 30-40, Dodge Ridge 48 and Mount Reba/Bear Valley 52-68.

Up closer to Tahoe, Kirkwood reported 60-96, Heavenly Valley 24-48, Alpine Meadows 51-100, Squaw Valley 42-84 and Sugar Bowl 84-108, to cite just a few of the larger operations.

The World Cup racers will regroup for Phase II of their season, the men at Bad Wiesse, West Germany, for a slalom Friday, and the women at Maribor, Yugoslavia, for a slalom Friday and giant slalom Saturday. The men are then scheduled to go in a slalom at La Mongie, France, Sunday, and in a slalom and giant slalom at Baqueira, Spain, Monday and Tuesday.

Defending men’s overall champion Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland is back atop the men’s standings with 104 points, followed by Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg with 95 and Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein with 67.

There has been only one downhill race so far because of the December drought in Europe. The next one is set for Kitzbuhel, Austria, on the weekend of Jan. 11-13, meaning Olympic champion Bill Johnson will have to wait a bit longer before getting another crack at winning his first World Cup points of the season.

The defending women’s titlist, Erika Hess of Switzerland, is third, with 59 points, behind Marina Kiehl of West Germany, who leads with 88, and Elisabeth Kirchler of Austria, second with 70. Two American racers are in the top 20--former champion Tamara McKinney has 41 points and Olympic gold medalist Debbie Armstrong with 23.

An enriched Peugeot Grand Prix men’s pro ski tour that may produce nearly $500,000 in purses will get under way this weekend at Hunter Mountain, N.Y. The $40,000 Bridgestone Cup is the first of 11 scheduled events on the circuit, which will include a meet at Snow Summit Feb. 14-17.

Among the favorites are Cary Adgate, the defending national champion; Jarle Halsnes, the Eastern winner and overall leading money winner in 1983-84; his brother, Edvin Halsnes, the Western titlist, and Peter Dodge, who is coming back from last winter’s injuries.

Notes

Jens Weissflog of East Germany won the second 90-meter event of the annual Four Hills jump Tuesday at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany. Ernst Vettori of Austria took the first one at Oberstdorf, West Germany. The ski-jumpers move on to Austria for competition at Innsbruck and Bischofshofen. . . . Ben Rinaldo, of Studio City, editor and publisher of The Skier and a three-time president of the U.S. Ski Writers Assn., is one of four longtime skiers who will be inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame Feb. 16 at Ishpeming, Mich. The others are David Bradley, of Hanover, N.H.; Robert Parker, of Vail, Colo., and Paul Valar, of Franconia, N.H. . . . Lane Spina of Reno won the men’s ballet competition in the first World Cup Freestyle event of the season at Lac de Tignes, France. Ellen Breen, of Canoga Park, was third in women’s ballet behind France’s Christina Rossi and American Jan Bucher. Other winners were France’s Philip Bron and Catherine Frarier in moguls, Canada’s Yves Laroche and Meredith Gardner in aerials, and Canada’s Alain Laroche and Switzerland’s Conny Kissling in the combined. The next World Cup freestyle tour stop is at Mount Gabriel (Quebec), Canada, Jan. 11-13.

James B. Sikking, who is Lt. Howard Hunter on TV’s “Hill Street Blues,” will be the host for the American Express-California Handicapped Skiers’ Foundation Celebrity race Feb. 10 at Goldmine. . . . The Far West Master series will continue this weekend with a slalom and giant slalom at Mt. Reba/Bear Valley. . . . Far West Junior Class 1-2 skiers are racing for points in a pair of downhills at Mammoth Mountain through Friday, while Class 3-4-5 youngsters will do the same in a slalom and giant slalom Saturday and Sunday at Goldmine. . . . Races for college and university recreational skiers will be held Sunday at both Snow Summit in the Southland and Echo Summit on U.S. 50 near Tahoe. They’re part of the Henry Weinhard’s College Cup series. . . . Kirkwood will be the site of Saturday’s U.S. Recreational Ski Assn.’s Chrysler-Plymouth race.