SKIING : Eriksen Honored for Many Years of Dedication

Stein Eriksen, skiing’s symbol of elegance since the 1950s, was honored Thursday night as the eighth recipient of the AT&T; Skiing Award at a banquet in Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Eriksen, 61, was not only a “pretty” skier, he was also fast, winning gold and silver medals at the 1952 Winter Olympics in his native Norway, then taking three gold medals at the 1954 World Championships in Sweden.

Currently director of skiing at Deer Valley, near Park City, Utah, Eriksen has lived in the United States for the last 35 years, heading ski schools, successively, at Boyne Mountain, Mich.; Heavenly Valley; Aspen Highlands, Colo.; Sugarbush, Vt.; Snowmass, Colo., and Park City.

At each stop, the seemingly ageless, blond Eriksen stressed the importance of a smooth, stylish technique, and “skiing like Stein” has become a cliche--as well as the ultimate compliment for a skier.

In accepting the award, given annually to recognize an individual “whose commitment to excellence and dedication to skiing has profoundly enriched the sport,” Eriksen said: “What I have done for skiing has really been for my own satisfaction and pleasure. If I could relive my life, I would do exactly what I have done. I’ve had the chance to experience a life style that when I wake up in the morning, I want to keep doing what I’ve done. I can hardly wait for tomorrow.”

At Oslo in ‘52, Eriksen won the giant slalom, the first time it was held in the Games; finished second in the slalom behind Austrian Othmar Schneider, and came in sixth in the downhill behind Italian Zeno Colo, just 1.4 seconds out of a medal.

Other finalists for the eighth award were Andrea Mead Lawrence of Mammoth Lakes, a double Olympic gold medalist in ‘52, and Cindy Nelson of Vail, Colo., an Olympic bronze medalist at Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976.

Previous winners, chosen by an advisory panel, were Bob Beattie, Jimmie Heuga, Serge Lang, Billy Kidd, Warren Miller, Marc Hodler and Willy Schaeffler.

Skiing continues on a somewhat limited basis in California, which could use a more southerly jet stream--with its accompanying storms--sometime between now and the holidays.

In the meantime, man-made snow is enabling Bear Mountain, Snow Summit and Mountain High to operate.

Mammoth Mountain reported it still has three to four feet on its slopes, but nothing new since Nov. 26. Farther north, the major High Sierra ski areas are all running at least some of their lifts, while keeping close watch on the western horizon.

Resorts in both Utah and Colorado picked up some new snow Wednesday and Thursday, as did Mt. Bachelor in Oregon.

Skiing Notes

World Cup racing resumes Saturday and Sunday for the Alpine women with a downhill, a slalom and combined scoring at Steamboat, Colo. . . . After placing second for the second straight week in a giant slalom last Sunday at Vail, Diann Roffe of Williston, Vt., is tied for fourth place in the overall standings with 45 points. Roffe, who won the GS gold medal in the 1985 World Alpine Ski Championships at Bormio, Italy, appears to have completed her comeback at the advanced age of 22.

Anita Wachter of Austria is the Cup leader with 80 points, followed by two West Germans, Michaela Gerg with 63 and Regine Mosenlechner with 62. . . . Edith Thys, 23, of Squaw Valley gave the American crowd something to cheer about last Saturday when she finished fifth in the super-G at Vail.

The men were supposed to have competed in a downhill Saturday at Val d’Isere, France, but a shortage of snow has caused the race to be postponed until Dec. 15, when it will be held at Val Gardena, Italy. Sunday’s scheduled super-G at the French resort is still on, as is another super-G set for Sestriere, Italy, on Tuesday. . . . Ole Christian Furuseth of Norway continues to top the men’s standings with 107 points, followed by Armin Bittner of West Germany with 79, Guenther Mader of Austria with 74, Pirmin Zurbriggen of Switzerland with 68 and defending champion Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg with 64.

The U.S. Pro Tour heads east for two events before breaking for the holidays--at Waterville Valley, N.H., this weekend and at Nashoba Valley, Mass., Dec. 16-17. . . . Niklas Lindqvist of Sweden earned $7,150 last weekend at Alpine Meadows to head the money standings, although he is tied in points with Tomaz Cerkovnik of Yugoslavia and Joerg Seiler of Austria, each with 45. Phil Mahre of Yakima, Wash., with $1,750 and 25 points, is tied for ninth place.

The opening pro races were dedicated to the memory of Craig Badami, who was killed in a Utah helicopter crash on Nov. 28. Badami, 37, was vice president of marketing at the Park City ski area and was the son of Nick Badami, who owns both Alpine Meadows and Park City. The younger Badami, a ski racing enthusiast, was supervising removal of equipment used in the previous weekend’s World Cup meet when the accident occurred. Utah Gov. Norm Bangerter called his death “a terrible tragedy,” adding: “Craig has been a great supporter of the state in his efforts to build up our ski industry. His efforts will be missed.”

The Nordic World Cup circuit begins this weekend at Mountain Dell, east of Salt Lake City. The women’s 5K and the men’s 15K, both using classical technique, will be held Saturday, and the men’s 40K relay, with two classical legs and two free legs, and the women’s 15K, using free technique, are set for Sunday. The action starts at 10:30 a.m. each day.

A blizzard of skiing programs will blanket the tube, starting with Bob Beattie’s “Subaru Ski World” today at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN, which will include features on Park City and injured U.S. racer Tamara McKinney. . . . Channel 7 will carry GGP Sports’ coverage of the World Cup women’s races at Steamboat, showing the downhill Saturday at 4 p.m. and the slalom Sunday at 2 p.m. . . . And ESPN will have a tape of last Sunday’s women’s giant slalom at Vail Sunday at 3 p.m.