SKIING : Snow Shortage in Europe Leaves ‘Em High & Dry

The “White Circus” will play Europe again this weekend after a three-week break, but one of the tents was still in the wagon Wednesday because nobody knew where to set it up.

After a shortage of snow caused Jasna, Czechoslovakia, to back out of holding a pair of men’s races, organizers in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, stepped forward and volunteered to hold the giant slalom and slalom, repeating the rescue effort they had performed on the women’s calendar early last month.

Meanwhile, the women were in limbo. Or more precisely, in Zurich. “Our girls are holed up in a hotel near the Kloten Airport,” said Tom Kelly, communications director for the U.S. Ski Team, Wednesday from Park City, Utah. “They were supposed to go to Candanchu, Spain, for a giant slalom and slalom--and they still may--but snow conditions there are marginal. At the moment, it appears more likely that they’ll wind up racing in either Meribel, France, or Schladming, Austria.

“Either way, it means a long drive (today), then racing right away the following day.”

In past years, the Alpine skiers would have been starting their North American swing about now, and as usual in early March, there is plenty of snow throughout the United States and Canada. But the schedule was changed this winter to bring everyone over here in late November and early December. Now, they are stuck in Europe, heading next for Scandinavia for the stretch drive to the World Cup finals at Are, Sweden, on March 16-18.

After last week’s National Alpine Championships at Crested Butte, Colo., U.S. Alpine Director John McMurtry said it was “encouraging” to see “some of our young skiers really push the veterans.”

He cited as especially notable the performances of Krista Schmidinger, 19, of Lee, Mass.; Julie Parisien, 18, of Auburn, Me.; Skip Merrick, 20, of Sun Valley, Ida.; Tommy Moe, 20, of Palmer, Alaska, and Nate Bryan, 19, of Vail, Colo.

Parisien and “veteran” Kyle Wieche, 22, of Farmington, Conn., won the combined titles as each finished in the top 10 of all four races.

Skiing Notes

Jorgen Sundqvist of Sweden remains atop the standings as the U.S. Pro Tour heads into the first races of the Million Dollar Plymouth Super Series this weekend at Beaver Creek, Colo. Sundqvist has 329 points, nine more than runner-up Bernhard Knauss of Austria, who is followed by countryman Roland Pfeifer with 308. . . . Highlights of this Saturday’s pro giant slalom will be on ESPN Sunday at 2 p.m., PST. . . . On Friday, ESPN will show the recent World Cup freestyle competition at Breckenridge, Colo., at 5 p.m., after “Subaru Ski World” at 4:30. On the latter program, Bob Beattie will ride the Ski Train from Denver and report on the World Disabled Ski Championships, which continue through Tuesday at Winter Park, Colo.

Sixteen countries are expected to be represented in the International Telemark Skiing Championships on Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colo., Friday through Sunday. . . . The American Ski Classic, former President Gerald Ford’s annual soiree, begins a weeklong run at Beaver Creek Monday and will include Legends of Skiing giant slalom and downhill races on March 10-11. . . . World Cup cross-country skiers and jumpers are competing jointly in a Nordic festival this weekend at Lahti, Finland.

The Jimmie Heuga Ski Express will stop at Mammoth Mountain today and Friday, and at Snow Summit Saturday. Proceeds from the events will benefit Heuga’s Center for the physically challenged in Vail, Colo. . . . Mammoth will play host to the Far West regional championship of the Jeep National Ski Club Challenge Saturday and Sunday. . . . On Saturday, Mammoth will also stage the Jose Cuervo Games of Winter, which move on to Bear Mountain for a March 10 bash. . . . Jeep/Eagle Challenge races for recreational skiers will be held at Mountain High Saturday and at Bear Mountain Sunday.

Skiers are invited to perform for the Smirnoff Video Tour cameras at Northstar today through Sunday and at Heavenly Valley on March 8-11. . . . More than 100 chefs from restaurants throughout California and Nevada have entered the Grand Marnier Chefs ski race Sunday at Heavenly Valley, which will serve as Far West regional qualifying for the national finals at Snowmass, Colo., on April 4-8. The day’s menu lists racing from 10 a.m. to about 3 p.m. on the California side’s World Cup Run.

Gary Black Jr., publisher of Vermont-based Ski Racing magazine, and Bill Tanler, Ski Racing’s founder in 1968 and now publisher of Ski Tech and Ski Travel in Santa Fe, N.M., have merged their operations but will continue to produce their publications as separate entities. . . . The second edition of Hal O’Leary’s “Bold Tracks: Skiing for the Disabled” has been published by Cordillera Press, Inc., in Evergreen, Colo. The book, by the founder of the Winter Park Handicap Ski Program, predecessor of the National Center for the Disabled, is available in soft-cover for $16.95. Information: (303) 670-3010.

Snowfest 90, the ninth annual North Lake Tahoe-Truckee Winter Carnival, will get under way Friday and continue through March 11, by which time more than 130 snow and ice events will have been held, including the second annual Localman Triathlon on Wednesday at Homewood. The three tests of skill: shoveling snow, installing tire chains and chopping firewood.