SKIING : Skiers Going to the Boards in Big Numbers

Damian Sanders skied for five years before receiving a snowboard for Christmas when he was 14. “That was more than seven years ago and I haven’t skied since,” he said Thursday.

This weekend, Sanders, Tom Burt and several of the world’s other top snowboard riders will shred the slopes of Snow Summit in the second annual Vuarnet Vertical Airshow, displaying their skills on a 300-foot-long half pipe and soaring off a jump in search of high air.

A half pipe, it should be explained, is a kind of chute carved into the slope, and high air is what a snowboarder gets with a major jump.

Both Sanders and Burt began snowboarding with a few friends at Lake Tahoe when only a few ski areas would let them on the hill. “Now, every major resort except Alpine Meadows permits snowboarding,” Burt said.

The sport, which allegedly has about 300,000 devotees worldwide, combines elements of skiing, surfing and skateboarding.

“In powder, it’s kind of surfy,” said Burt, 25. “But on hardpack, it’s more like skiing. And in the air, it’s comparable to skateboarding.”

Burt, who started skiing at 4, has also converted competely to snowboarding since taking his first ride in 1983. “I’ve pretty much hung up my skis,” he said. “Now, I’m into extreme snowboarding, going to exotic locations for films, and just having fun while making a living.

“For the average person, though, it probably takes less time to become proficient at snowboarding than at skiing. You’re more in control, using just one edge.”

And of course, there’s no worry about getting your skis crossed.

Injuries occur with about equal frequency in the two sports, according to Sanders, who also competes on the World Cup snowboarding circuit.

“But ours generally involve the upper body, rather than the legs,” he said. “When a snowboarder takes a bad fall, it can result in a broken wrist or a dislocated shoulder, but not a torn-up knee.”

The biggest danger in snowboarding, it seems, is falling behind in the rapidly changing language of the sport.

“It’s still OK to use shred, “ Sanders said, “but radical and gnarly are out. If you’re not careful, you can be really cool one day, and sound like a geek the next.”

The action at the Big Bear Lake resort starts at 9 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, with no charge for spectators--even geeks.

On Monday, the riding scene will shift to Snow Valley, near Running Springs, for the weeklong Aloe Up/U.S. Amateur Snowboard Assn. National Championships.

A field of 125 invited amateur competitors will compete for national titles in seven individual divisions, including one for “Legends, 35 and over.” There will also be high school, college and open team competition.

After the concluding Half-Pipe Superheat next Friday, the 10-member USASA national team will be selected.

Bill Shaw, who skied on the U.S. Alpine team for five years before beginning a nine-year pro career in 1976, has put together a racing series for corporate teams, called the Ski Classic, and the second of three Southern California events is scheduled for Feb. 23-25 at Snow Summit.

“The idea is to give skiers a program where everybody comes out a winner, with valuable prizes, and to provide the opportunity for camaraderie and networking,” Shaw said from his San Francisco office of Eiger Communications.

“A recent survey showed that 62% of skiers are either in middle management or self-employed--this is the group we are trying to reach. Any team of five persons may enter the series, as long as one is a member of the opposite sex, and there are three divisions for corporate teams plus an open division for ski clubs or groups of individuals who want to race together. Companies can even team novices with expert skiers.”

The regular team entry fee is $325, but $100 discounts are available to members of “Ken & Bob’s KABC-AM Ski Club” and to members of the L.A. Council of Ski Clubs, as well as by sign-up through any Sports Chalet.

The regional finals will be held at Mammoth Mountain March 23-25, and winning teams will earn free trips to the national finals at Aspen, Colo., April 6-8.

Skiing Notes

The National Alpine Championships begin a 10-day run today at Crested Butte, Colo., where America’s World Cup skiers will try to maintain their dignity against the challenges of younger racers from around the country. . . . Before the international circuit took its annual two-week break, the U.S. team picked off a pair of sixth places with Kristi Terzian of Salt Lake City and Diann Roffe of Williamson, N.Y., as France’s Carole Merle won both super-G races last weekend at Meribel, France.

Austrians Petra Kronberger and Anita Wachter continue to hold the 1-2 spots in the women’s overall standings with 275 and 260 points, respectively, followed by West German Michaela Gerg with 243. . . . Switzerland’s Pirmin Zurbriggen has a stranglehold on the men’s lead with 295 points, 83 ahead of Norway’s Ole-Christian Furuseth.

The overall title in last week’s $200,000 Pro Ski World Championships at Nagano, Japan, went to Bernard Knauss of Austria, who won the giant slalom, placed second in the super-G and finished fourth in the slalom, earning a total of $48,379. . . . Jorgen Sundqvist of Sweden was second, and Phil Mahre of Yakima, Wash., won the slalom to tie super-G winner Roland Pfeifer of Austria and Tomaz Cerkovnik of Yugoslavia for third place. . . . Niklas Lindqvist of Sweden, the defending world champion, injured his knee when he fell in the super-G and may be out for the season. . . . The U.S. Pro Tour resumes next Friday at Stowe, Vt.

Taped highlights of a recent World Cup men’s downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, will be shown on ESPN today at 5 p.m., PST, after “Subaru Ski World With Bob Beattie” at 4:30. . . . On Sunday at 9 a.m., ESPN will show the Jan. 27 pro giant slalom at Snow Summit. . . . Snow Valley will play host to the third of four Southern California Pro Ski Tour events today and Saturday.

The McKinney Speed Challenge, a U.S. Ski Assn.-sanctioned speed skiing event, will be held Thursday through Feb. 26 at Kirkwood. It’s a qualifying race for the U.S. speed skiing team, coached by Steve McKinney, and will be followed on Feb. 27 by recreational speed skiing trials open to the public. . . . The Jose Cuervo Winter Games, a potpourri of fun and games on snow, will be held Saturday at Squaw Valley.