Skiing / Bob Lochner : Snow Finally Arrives in Significant Amounts, Assuring a Late Season in the Sierra
It’s finally starting to look more like winter in the High Sierra.
A couple of storms over the holiday weekend have left snow depths at respectable levels, assuring that ski season will be around for a while.
Mammoth Mountain, for example, said it had a base of 68 inches Wednesday, a considerable improvement over the 23 inches listed just a week ago. And Alpine Meadows, north of Lake Tahoe, broke into triple digits with its report of 56 to 118 inches.
Elsewhere, Squaw Valley had 31 to 78 inches, Sugar Bowl 60 to 90, Kirkwood 60 to 84, and Heavenly Valley, site of this weekend’s John Denver Celebrity races, 48.
In the Southland, six ski areas--Goldmine, Snow Summit, Snow Valley, Snow Forest, Mountain High and Ski Sunrise--are operating daily on 12 to 36 inches of natural and custom snow.
The World Cup circuit takes a break for the various national championships this week, including the U.S. Nationals in Colorado.
Doug Lewis and Pam Ann Fletcher, as expected, won the downhill races Wednesday at Crested Butte, which is sharing the event this year with Copper Mountain. Lewis was timed in 1 minute 23.80 seconds, just .27 of a second faster than Andreas Rickenbach. Fletcher came down the women’s course in 1:22.32, more than a second ahead of runner-up Hilary Lindh (1:23.41).
In last weekend’s World Cup action, Vreni Schneider moved a point ahead of Swiss teammate Maria Walliser in the women’s overall standings with 230, and Switzerland’s Pirmin Zurbriggen, with 274 points, made his lead over West Germany’s Markus Wasmeier an even 100.
Skiing Notes
The U.S. Nationals will be televised both Saturday and Sunday by GGP Sports, on Channel 7 at 2 p.m. PST each day . The production company will also tape the John Denver event for showing Feb. 28. . . . ESPN will show last month’s Steve Garvey Celebrity races at Deer Valley, Utah, Sunday at 10 a.m. PST. . . . ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” will be at the World Nordic meet, with jumping on Saturday (Channel 7, 4:30 to 6 p.m. PST) and cross-country racing on Sunday (Channel 7, 4 to 6 p.m. PST).
The U.S. Pro Tour will stop at Elk Meadows, near Beaver, Utah, this weekend for a pair of men’s races. . . . The Stella Artois Weekend World Cup series will continue Sunday at Goldmine. . . . Alpine Meadows will play host to the second annual Far West Regional Grand Marnier chefs’ race Sunday. . . . Northstar’s cross-country ski center will hold an all-day telemark clinic Sunday for skiers who want to perfect the telemark turn.
Utah’s ski resorts have also reached midwinter form after a slow start. Brian Head, in the south, had 76 to 87 inches Wednesday; Snowbird had 77, Park City 46 to 69. . . . Taos Ski Valley, N.M., said Wednesday it had received 26 inches of snow in the last six days, and it was still snowing. The total midway depth there was 86 inches. . . . U.S. Sports Adventures is offering weeklong charter trips to Mt. Bachelor, near Bend, Ore., every Saturday from Long Beach Airport.