SKIING : Plenty of Snow Awaits Those Willing to Go to Unfamiliar Places

Here is a sampling of reports from ski resorts that have plenty of snow for this big holiday week of skiing:

--Snowshoe, 32- to 52-inch base, six inches new, powder.

--Homestead, 14- to 74-inch base, packed powder.

--Ober Gatlinburg, 60- to 72-inch base, one inch new, packed powder.

--Sugar Mountain, 36- to 60-inch base, packed powder.

--Sky Valley, 60-inch base, packed powder.

If the names are unfamiliar, then you’ve never lived in Appalachia or the Southeast. Snowshoe is in West Virginia, Homestead in Virginia, Ober Gatlinburg in Tennessee, Sugar Mountain in North Carolina and Sky Valley in Georgia.

The point, of course, is that while West Coast ski areas have been scraping through with the remnants of a Thanksgiving weekend storm or relying on their snow-making capability, the normally semi-barren hills ‘way down south in Dixie have been up to their chairlift towers in cold, fluffy powder.

Y’all come, heah?

Seriously though, skiing is relatively good in the San Bernardino mountains, too, considering . . .

Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, Snow Valley and Snow Forest have all been making snow like crazy, giving Big Bear a more or less wintry appearance and enabling skiers to slip and slide around on bases that range from six to 36 inches.

Ditto for Mountain High, near Wrightwood.

Mammoth Mountain, in the Central Sierra, is still operational, with 12 to 36 inches of natural snow, boosted here and there by portable snow-making equipment.

At Lake Tahoe, man-made snow and “snow-quarrying”--moving it from deep pockets to exposed terrain--are helping to keep the lifts running until the jet stream swings south again.

Skiing Notes

ESPN will show taped highlights of the U.S. Pro Tour’s opening races at Alpine Meadows Saturday at 12:30 p.m., PST. . . . Bill Johnson, 1984 Olympic downhill champion, suffered a minor knee injury during training at Val Gardena, Italy, in mid-December and did not race in the downhill there. He is expected to be ready when the men’s World Cup circuit resumes Jan. 6-7 at Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia. . . . The women are scheduled to go back into action the same weekend at Piancavallo, Italy, where the U.S. team will be without Tori Pillinger, who retired last week because of continuing back spasms caused by a ruptured disk.

Snow Summit is offering a “learn-to-ski” package that includes rental equipment, beginning lift ticket and beginning ski lesson for $25. Information: (714) 866-5766. . . . Elissa Slanger is conducting her Woman’s Way Ski Seminars at Squaw Valley for the 16th consecutive year. The second one, a three-day midweek session, will be held next Wednesday through Friday. Later seminars are scheduled for Jan. 17-19, Jan. 28-Feb. 2, Feb. 9-11, Feb. 25-March 2 and March 14-16. They are specially designed to help women improve their skiing skills. Information: (916) 583-0119. . . . Billy Kidd, 1964 Olympic slalom silver medalist and 1970 World champion, is again holding his two- and three-day ski racing camps throughout the season at Steamboat, Colo. Information: Lynn at (303) 879-6111, ext. 284.

Snow Country magazine reports in its January issue that America’s most expensive ski home is producer Ted Field’s $23-million mansion in Aspen, Colo. . . . Indy-car driver Danny Sullivan, tennis player Martina Navratilova and 1976 Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner are expected to race in the inaugural Marlboro Celebrity Ski Challenge next Thursday and Friday on Aspen Mountain. . . . Barbara Ann Cochran, 1972 Olympic slalom gold medalist, and her sister, Lindy Cochran Kelly, have teamed with Craig Altschul to write, “Teach Your Child to Ski,” a 144-page paperback with 100 instructional photos aimed at helping parents get their children started on the slopes (Stephen Greene Press, $12.95).