Skiing : U. S. Prospects Are Dim in the World Alpine Championships in Italy

The biennial World Alpine Ski Championships will get under way Thursday at Bormio, Italy, but don’t be fooled by the title. They might as well be called the European Championships, because with one or two possible exceptions, nobody else figures to win a medal.

Where have you gone, Phil and Steve Mahre? A nation of skiers turns its lonely eyes to you.

The twins have retired, of course, never again to win World Cup points or a World Championship gold medal--as Steve did at Schladming, Austria, in 1982. The same is true of Christin Cooper, who brought home three medals in ’82.

American hopes rest mainly with Tamara McKinney, who could score in either the women’s slalom or giant slalom. Otherwise, U.S. prospects depend on a one-day shot of adrenaline again boosting Debbie Armstrong to a repeat of her 1984 Olympic gold-medal performance, or a similar rush inspiring either Holly Beth Flanders or Eva Twardokens.

As for the men, it’s Olympic downhill champion Bill Johnson or nobody. The Malibu resident had a couple of promising finishes earlier this month, but he still doesn’t appear to be in top form. Of course, that’s the way he likes it--as the underdog. He may have the Austrians and Swiss just where he wants them, again ignoring his chances.

Certainly, a World Championship medal would help make up for what has so far been a disappointing World Cup season.

The World Championships will continue through Feb. 10. This is the first time that they’ve been scheduled in an odd-numbered year, starting a new every-other-year rotation that will keep them separate from the Winter Olympics.

High Sierra ski resorts picked up several inches of fresh snow from a couple of light storms that moved through California between Saturday night and Tuesday morning.

Depths have not increased dramatically--Mammoth Mountain reports 68 inches, June Mountain 52 inches, for example--but everything looks whiter, and there’s a little layer of powder atop a more-than-adequate base.

All Southland resorts also continue in more or less full operation with 12 to 60 inches on their slopes.

Skiing Notes Norway dominated the World Nordic Ski Championships, which ended Sunday at Seefeld, Austria. The Norwegians won 15 medals, including five golds. Finland won nine medals, including two golds, and Sweden won four medals, including two golds. The United States was shut out of medals, although Mike Holland of Norwich, Vt., finished a creditable eighth in Saturday’s 70-meter jump. . . . Six-time world ballet champion Jan Bucher of the United States won her specialty in the World Freestyle Invitational at Breckenridge, Colo., last weekend as Ellen Breen of Canoga Park placed fifth. American Hayley Wulff won the women’s mogul competition. . . . Ingemar Stenmark, who started this season looking for his 80th victory in Alpine World Cup racing, is still looking for it. The Swede is getting closer, however, having finished second in a recent slalom at Wengen, Switzerland. . . . In pro racing this weekend, the Peugeot men’s series is at Ruidoso-Sierra Blanca, N.M., and the women’s tour is at Nashoba Valley, Mass.