Skiing / Bob Lochner : It’s Finally Winter at Mammoth

The Mammoth Lakes Winter Carnival is in full swing through Sunday, and that fact alone is significant when you consider they didn’t even have winter up there two weeks ago.

Mammoth Mountain, of course, is the center of activity for the event, which includes a variety of ski races, ski sailing (boardsailing on skis in a meadow), an ice sculpture contest, dogsled races, bonfires, sleigh rides, etc. All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the California Special Winter Olympics program, a Mammoth spokeswoman said Thursday.

“The Ken and Bob Co.” on KABC radio is covering all the action, sort of.

As for the skiing, it could be better, with only 12 to 18 inches of snow on the slopes and some rocks showing. “Skiers who bring their older skis and don’t care if they get a scratch or two on the bases should enjoy themselves,” the spokeswoman said.

Skiers should also bring their warmest parkas to Mammoth, which has been cold and windy the last few days.

At the moment, skiing is probably better locally than in many sectors of the High Sierra. All resorts in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains are open, with the following snow depths reported: Goldmine 42 inches, Snow Summit, 24 to 48, Snow Forest 6-36, Snow Valley 12-30, Ski Green Valley 12-18, Mountain High 12-48, Ski Sunrise 24-30, Mt. Baldy 12-24, Kratka Ridge 12-24 and Mt. Waterman 12-24. The surface is mainly packed powder.

“Ski Scene,” a new TV show on Southland skiing, will begin an eight-week run Monday night at 7:30 on KSCI, Channel 18.

With Marcel Schiro and Evelyn Beamon as co-hosts, the program will focus on a different ski area each week, starting with Snow Summit, whose Greg Ralph will describe snow-making and introduce a film from its 1952 opening season.

Producer Ted Quackenbush said: “The show was inspired by the ‘Tom Malone and Annie Ski Show’ that I used to watch in the ‘60s, and now hope to bring that same skiing spirit back to Southern California in the ‘80s.”

Skiing Notes The World Cup circuit will move into its final stages before the World Alpine Ski Championships at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Jan. 25 through Feb. 8. The men are at Wengen, Switzerland, for the Lauberhorn downhill and slalom Saturday and Sunday, then will go to Kitzbuhel, Austria, for the Hahnenkamm races Jan. 24-25. The women have a downhill and a super-G scheduled at Pfronten, West Germany, today and Saturday, followed by a giant slalom at Bischofswiesen, West Germany, and a parallel slalom in Munich Sunday. . . . Tamara McKinney’s victory last Sunday at Mellau, Austria, boosted her atop the slalom standings with 90 points, but she remained in fifth place overall with 118 points, 65 behind leader Vreni Schneider of Switzerland. Another Swiss racer, Pirmin Zurbriggen holds a comfortable lead in the men’s competition with 172 points, 29 ahead of Markus Wasmeier of West Germany.

The World Nordic Ski Championships are set for Oberstdorf, West Germany, Feb. 11-21. . . . The men on the U.S. Pro Ski tour will stop at Heavenly Valley for the Sanka Far West Challenge this weekend, while Women’s Pro Ski racing will visit Nashoba Valley, Mass., for the Michelob Light Cup, which offers $50,000 in prize money.

Former Olympic medalists Stein Eriksen, Steve Mahre and Jure Franko will help Steve Kanaly put on his Ski IV celebrity races Feb. 1 at Mountain High for the benefit of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. . . . Mt. Bachelor, in Central Oregon, set an all-time one-day record Dec. 30 when 13,800 skiers hit its downhill slopes and cross-country trails.