Skiing / Bob Lochner : Celebrities Race at Bear Mountain

An unspecified number of celebrities have passed through this resort during the past couple of weeks to attend the World Alpine Ski Championships.

Who? Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger for one. He was visiting the Austrian team. And the Denver Post society columnist seemed impressed that Brad Quayle was here. He’s a cousin of Vice President Dan Quayle. And oh, there have been so many others, we’ve just lost count.

However, celebrities are nothing new in the Southland. There are plenty to go around, and more than 50 will be on the slopes of Bear Mountain, at Big Bear Lake, this weekend to race in Ski VI, Steve Kanaly’s annual benefit for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

The celebrities include Kanaly, one of the stars of the “Dallas” television series, and depending on which generation you’re in, there’s Frankie Avalon, Shari Belafonte, Susan Blakely, Patrick Duffy, Britt Ekland, Robert Hays, Chris Lemmon, Clayton Moore, Michelle Phillips, etc.

Racing, with several pros taking part, will start at 9 a.m. Sunday, after today’s training sessions and an apres-ski party tonight at the Big Bear Convention Center.

According to Kanaly, this year’s event should boost the total raised for the March of Dimes over the $500,000 mark in six years.

Ski areas in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains are reporting three to seven feet of packed powder as a result of this week’s storms, and most of them figure to be in good shape at least into April.

The Jimmie Heuga Express, in which three-skier teams each try to raise a minimum of $1,000 in sponsorships and then they all shoot for skiing a total of 1 million vertical feet, will be at Snow Summit next Saturday.

All proceeds will benefit the Jimmie Heuga Center for the physically challenged, in Vail, Colo., and among the prizes is a trip to Vail in April.

More information on entering and other details can be obtained by calling (213) 697-8941.

In the Sierra, snow depths range from four to 12 feet, with a mixture of powder and packed powder.

Squaw Valley is playing host to the Western States Invitational Freestyle aerials and moguls competition today and Sunday. And at the other (south) end of Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Valley will be the scene of the International Police Winter Games Sunday through Thursday.

Friday was a lay day, as they say in the America’s Cup, at Vail. No races.

Today, the women, led by Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider, will go in a giant slalom, and on Sunday, the men, topped by Italy’s Alberto Tomba, will wind up the competition with a slalom.

The racing will be shown on ABC-TV’s “Wide World of Sports” both days.