SKIING : Mountain Resorts Take a Powder

Winter continues to bust out all over the West as storms dump real, natural snow atop the man-made stuff that carried most ski resorts through the early part of the season.

From all indications, skiing should be great in February and March, and with Easter coming relatively late--on April 15--skiers should have at least another 2 1/2 months to keep on slipping and sliding away.

Southland ski areas picked up an additional two to four inches Tuesday night, boosting maximum depths at Bear Mountain, Snow Summit and Mountain High to 48 inches; at Snow Valley and Ski Sunrise to 36 inches; at Mt. Waterman to 30 inches, and at Snow Forest, Mt. Baldy and Kratka Ridge to 24 inches.

In the High Sierra, both Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain received another six inches, to go atop a 36- to 48-inch base. And farther north, the Lake Tahoe Basin has been blanketed with eight to 18 inches of powder in the last couple of days, topping off bases that were already more than adequate.

Skiers who have been hoping that snowboarding would go away appear to be in for a disappointment. The new sport, a hybrid of skiing and surfing, reportedly has about 300,000 practitioners and is growing each year, according to a spokesman for one of the 10 or more companies that manufacture the gear.

For those “ducks”--as snowboarders refer to skiers--who decide that if you can’t beat ‘em, you might as well join ‘em, Snow Summit is staging a Snowboard Jam this weekend, offering everyone a chance to try “riding” for the first time.

Various brands of boards and boots will be available for demonstration runs by both “never-evers” and advanced riders at the Big Bear Lake resort, for a nominal charge plus the price of a lift-ticket, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Instruction will also be offered for beginners, and prizes will be awarded during an apres-boarding party in the day lodge.

With a little luck, according to the event’s sponsors, almost anyone could be shredding through the ducksoup and looking rad without tweaking it or taking any hospital air.

Norwegian Edvin Halsnes, the 1986 U.S. Pro Tour champion who is coming back after a year’s layoff, was eliminated in the first round of both the giant slalom and slalom last weekend at Snow Summit. He plans to race again this weekend at Winter Park, Colo., where his brother, Jarle, who won the title in 1985 and ‘87, then retired in the spring of ‘88, will also rejoin the tour.

Edvin, 29, and Jarle, 32, are pointing toward the three-event Million Dollar Plymouth Super Series in March.

Defending tour champion Jorgen Sundqvist of Sweden, who won Sunday’s slalom at Snow Summit, said the Halsnes brothers should not be discounted, adding: “You never know with those guys. If they can train a couple more weeks, they could win some races, because they’re good skiers.”

Asked to evaluate Edvin Halsnes’ performance last weekend, Sundqvist said: “He skis very smooth but he doesn’t have the explosion right now. We will see in Winter Park.”

Ole-Christian Furuseth is making it tough on Pirmin Zurbriggen in his attempt to equal Italian Gustavo Thoeni’s record of four World Cup championships.

Furuseth, who finished ahead of Zurbriggen in both super-G races earlier this week at Val d’Isere and Les Menuires, France, is second in the overall standings with 212 points, 37 behind his Swiss rival. However, Zurbriggen will have the hill all to himself this weekend in a pair of downhills at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, since Furuseth doesn’t ski that discipline.

Both the Norwegian and third-place Guenther Mader of Austria, who has 173 points, will be back in their element Tuesday in another super-G at Courmayeur, Italy.

The women will spend the weekend at Veysonaz, Switzerland, where overall leader Petra Kronberger, who won’t turn 21 until later this month, will try to pull further ahead of fellow Austrian Anita Wachter in a downhill and a giant slalom.

Kronberger has 245 points, 17 more than Wachter. West German Michaela Gerg is third with 199, and then come three Swiss--defending champion Vreni Schneider with 152, Maria Walliser with 146 and Michela Figini with 109--none of whom are accustomed to being behind anybody.

The only American in the top 15 is Diann Roffe of Williamson, N.Y., 11th with 74 points. The top U.S. male skier is Felix McGrath of Shelburne, Vt., 43rd with 20 points.

Not much has changed there.

Skiing Notes

Taped highlights of last Saturday’s World Cup men’s downhill at Val d’Isere, France, will be shown on ESPN Friday at 5 p.m., PST, following “Subaru Ski World with Bob Beattie” at 4:30. Host Bob Beattie’s show was taped at Kitzbuhel, Austria, and one of his guests will be Austrian Toni Sailer, who won three gold medals in the 1956 Winter Olympics. . . . The Women’s Pro Ski troupe will stop at Sunapee, N.H., this weekend.

The stars will be out on the slopes at Bear Mountain, where Steve Kanaly will play host to his “Magnificent Seventh” celebrity ski race Sunday. About 65 film, TV and sports personalities will compete, along with 200 patrons who paid $250 apiece. Last year, Kanaly raised $165,000 for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, which will benefit again this year. Racing clinics and other activities will be held Saturday, followed by a dinner-dance and auction Saturday night at the Big Bear Lake Convention Center. . . . The second of four Southern California Pro Ski Tour meets, produced by James Ballard, is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Snow Valley.

Heavenly Valley, at South Lake Tahoe, will be the site of two events this weekend. On Saturday, more than 125 entrants are expected in the Suncloud Top Gun on Gunbarrel mogul competition at 1 p.m., and on Sunday, those personalities not at Bear Mountain will participate in the Plymouth celebrity race from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Handicapped skiers will have another chance to qualify for the U.S. Disabled Ski Championships in the Chap Stick Challenge Saturday and Sunday at Alpine Meadows, near Tahoe City. . . . The second Northern California race in former U.S. racer Bill Shaw’s Ski Classic corporate series will be held Friday through Sunday at Squaw Valley.