Skiing / Bob Lochner : Happy and Cold Holidays Are Likely on the Slopes

The busiest 2 weeks of the ski season will begin Friday, and, just in time, a cold storm is headed this way to enhance conditions for the thousands of skiers who are expected to jam the slopes from Snow Summit to Squaw Valley.

How much snow it will drop is uncertain, but the Arctic air mass that is headed south along the eastern slope of the Sierra should be highly conducive to snow-making. As a result, all four of the currently operating Southland ski areas--Bear Mountain, Snow Valley, Mountain High and Snow Summit--figure to open more lifts and runs to accommodate the holiday crowds.

High Sierra resorts could also use a little fresh powder to cover some of the bare spots that have developed since those November storms got the season off to a jump-start at Mammoth Mountain and points farther north, clear up to Tahoe-ho-ho.

Injuries continue to hit the U.S. Ski Team, which is thin enough when at full strength.

First, Diann Roffe, 21, the 1985 world champion in giant slalom, injured a knee during a race at Schladming, Austria, on Nov. 28 and will miss the rest of the December races. Then, last Friday, Edith Thys, 22, broke an ankle on a downhill training run in France--less than a month after breaking a wrist in another spill--and will be out for at least 6 weeks.

Both women are being treated by Dr. Richard Steadman at South Lake Tahoe.

Roffe, who continued racing despite the injury, finally decided to undergo arthroscopic surgery when, she said, “The knee really started to hurt a lot.

“And I wanted to get (the operation) out of the way so I could be ready for the World Championships (starting Jan. 29 at Vail, Colo.)”

Phil Mahre won for the first time as a pro Sunday when he beat Torjus Berge of Norway in the final of the slalom at Waterville Valley, N.H.

That was a day after both he and his brother, Steve, lost in the early rounds of the super-G. The twins each have a victory so far this season in 4 races, and Phil is second in the U.S. Pro Tour standings with 80 points, 20 behind leader Niklas Lindqvist of Sweden. Berge is third with 75, followed by Steve with 70.

The pros will be at Nashoba Valley, Mass., this weekend.

Skiing Notes

The women on the World Cup circuit are scheduled to resume competition today at Altenmarkt, Austria, then go to Valzoldana, Italy, for the weekend, before returning to Altenmarkt for a downhill next Thursday. . . . The men, meanwhile, will race at Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia, Friday and Saturday, then wind up their pre-holiday activity at St. Anton, Austria, next Wednesday and Thursday. . . . GGP Sports’ tape of the World Cup men’s downhill at Val Gardena, Italy, will be shown on Channel 7 at 2 p.m. Sunday. . . . ESPN will televise 2 taped hours of winter sports Sunday, starting at 2 p.m. with the U.S. Women’s Pro Tour opener at Park City, Utah, and continuing with Bob Beattie’s “Ski World” at 2:30 and World Cup ski-jumping at 3. . . . After 2 World Cup cross-country races, Sweden’s Gunde Swan and Torgny Mogren share the overall lead with 45 points apiece. Norway’s Pal Mikkelsplass is third with 21.