SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : Southland Resorts Right on Schedule

Most ski resorts like to boast their season runs from Thanksgiving to Easter or beyond, but more often than not, they have to hedge a bit. That opening date frequently turns out to be a turkey.

This year, at least, the Southland and the Rocky Mountains are right on schedule, but most of the Sierra will experience a balmy and dry holiday weekend--without all those skiers cluttering up the highways.

In the San Bernardino Mountains, where Snow Summit and Bear Mountain are already in operation, Snow Valley made about 16 inches of snow Wednesday, to go with four inches that fell naturally, and began its season Thursday. Chairlifts Nos. 6, 7 and 13 are running for beginning and intermediate skiers.

Mountain High, near Wrightwood, has also had its snow guns firing away and said it hopes to be open by today.

An early-week storm dropped up to eight inches of snow in the Sierra, but that was hardly enough to incite widespread jubilation. Mammoth Mountain, for example, said it still needs 18 to 24 inches more.

So, the only lift-served skiing definitely available within a couple hundred miles of Lake Tahoe this weekend will be at Boreal, which has been open since Nov. 2, and Alpine Meadows, where snow-making has covered the runs under the Kangaroo chairlift and the Tiegel surface lift. Alpine, incidentally, stayed open last season until Mother’s Day, May 13.

Northstar was also making snow furiously Wednesday night and called an opening today “possible.”

Utah has perhaps the best skiing in the West at the moment, after receiving up to 30 inches of powder Tuesday.

Snowbird opened Thursday, Alta today. They join Brighton, which reported a 39-inch depth Wednesday; Solitude, which has 34 inches, and Park City, where the U.S. Pro Tour gets under way this weekend.

Deer Valley, completing a $6-million expansion program, is planning a Dec. 1 lift-off.

Colorado has also picked up some new snow, and virtually all of the state’s major resorts began operating on at least a limited basis Thursday.

Elsewhere:

--Mt. Bachelor, Ore., opened Wednesday with depths ranging from six to 16 inches.

--Taos Ski Valley, N.M., began operation Thursday with about 60% of its runs skiable on a 24-inch base.

--In British Columbia, Whistler Mountain launched its season Thursday, linking its lifts, as usual, with neighboring Blackcomb, which got going last Saturday.

--Sun Valley, Ida., has announced a Dec. 7 starting date.

Skiing Notes

The three nominees for the ninth annual AT&T; Skiing Award, given to “an individual whose commitment to excellence and dedication to skiing has profoundly enriched the sport,” are Jean-Claude Killy of France, triple Olympic gold medalist; Andrea Mead Lawrence of Mammoth Lakes, double Olympic gold medalist, and Phil Mahre of Yakima, Wash., Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Cup champion. The winner will be announced on March 7.

Winterfest, Orange County’s annual potpourri of ski exhibits, sales and entertainment, will be held Friday through Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center. “Dr. Strange Glove,” a new film by Greg Stump, will be shown three times daily. . . . “Extreme Winter,” Warren Miller’s latest movie, will be screened today at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada; Tuesday at the Barclay Theater in Irvine, and next Wednesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Show time for each date is 8 p.m.

Nate Bryan and Diann Roffe outskied fellow members of the U.S. Ski Team at Vail, Colo., recently to become the national pacesetters for this season’s NASTAR recreational racing program. . . . .Dec. 1 is the deadline for entering the 11th annual Corporate Ski Challenge to be held March 11-16 at Alpine Meadows.