Skiing / Bob Lochner : Southland Slopes Abound With Powder

If the snow in your backyard has melted by this weekend, you still won’t have to go very far to find skiable slopes.

Southland ski areas, which were relying mainly on man-made snow until now, suddenly have plenty of the natural variety. As of Wednesday noon, between 6 and 19 inches of fresh powder had fallen in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, and total depths ranged up to 72 inches.

Mt. Baldy reopened Wednesday, joining Goldmine, Snow Summit, Snow Forest, Mountain High and Ski Sunrise, all of which had been in operation for some time. Snow Valley, which shut down briefly during the storm, will start up again today, as will Kratka Ridge and possibly Mt. Waterman. Ski Green Valley plans to be open this weekend.

High Sierra resorts, from Mammoth Mountain northward, also benefited from the early-week snowfalls, and nearly all of them are in full operation.

World Cup racing will resume this weekend with the women competing in a slalom and a giant slalom today and Saturday at Zwiesel, West Germany, and the men going in a downhill and a super-G at Furano, Japan, Saturday and Sunday.

After that, everyone will convene in North America for a couple of weeks before the finals March 20-22 at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

The Western Hemisphere portion of the schedule:

MARCH 6-8--Women’s downhill and super-G at Mt. Allan, near Calgary, Canada; men’s downhill and super-G at Aspen, Colo.

MARCH 13-15--Two women’s downhills and super-G at Vail, Colo.; men’s downhill and super-G at Mt. Allan.

Skiing Notes

A million vertical feet is the goal at Mammoth Mountain Friday when corporate-sponsored teams from throughout the Far West take part in the Jimmie Heuga USA Express, with all contributions going to the Jimmie Heuga Center in Avon, Colo., which is developing health and fitness programs for people with multiple sclerosis. The winning team will qualify for the national finals at Vail, Colo., March 19-22. . . . Snowfest, the annual North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Winter Carnival, will open Friday at Squaw Valley and continue for 10 days at various ski resorts in the north end of the Tahoe Basin. Among the events is the Pro Football Ski Race Saturday through Wednesday at Squaw, with players from around the National Football League matched in dual competition on the slopes. Among the scheduled participants are Nolan Cromwell and Jim Everett of the Rams, and Howie Long and Lester Hayes of the Raiders. . . . Regional qualifying for the National Handicapped ski championships will be held Saturday and Sunday at Alpine Meadows. . . . The Stella Artois Weekend World Cup series continues Saturday at Mountain High. . . . Last weekend’s John Denver Celebrity Ski Races at Heavenly Valley were taped by GGP Sports for viewing Saturday at 2 p.m. on Channel 7. . . . The U.S. Men’s Pro Ski Tour stops this weekend at West Mountain, N.Y.