SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : Snow in the Rockies, Rocky in the High Sierra

Three major resorts in the Rocky Mountains will open for skiing Saturday, making it just about unanimous in the West--except for the High Sierra, where only a few ski areas are operating.

Deer Valley, Utah; Sun Valley, Ida., and Jackson Hole, Wyo., are the latest to join the party that everyone hopes will continue in full swing at least through Easter Sunday, March 31.

A $6-million expansion program is nearing completion at Deer Valley, the upscale resort near Park City, which reported a 20-inch base Thursday. Four new chairlifts have been built to serve eight runs on Flagstaff Mountain, boosting the total uphill capacity by 1,000 to 5,600 skiers an hour; snow-making coverage has been doubled on Bald Mountain, and base facilities have been enlarged and refurbished.

Sun Valley, starting its 55th season, will run only the lifts serving its middle and lower slopes on Warm Springs, where an 18-inch snow depth was reported.

Jackson Hole, which reported 35 inches at the top of its mountain and 30 inches at mid-level, will also be in limited operation until additional storms pass through.

In the Eastern Sierra, Mammoth Mountain remains in extremely limited operation with only Gondola No. 1 running to provide access to Broadway.

Farther north, Kirkwood has closed until it gets more snow, leaving only Heavenly Valley, Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Northstar and Boreal open, with depths ranging from 12 to 30 inches.

Nearby, snow-making is enabling four Southland ski areas--Mountain High, Snow Valley, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain--to continue operating on bases of six to 36 inches.

With snow plentiful in the Alps, the World Cup circuit will move ahead right on schedule with downhill and super-G races this weekend, the men competing at Val d’Isere, France, and the women trying to catch defending champion Petra Kronberger on her home slopes at Altenmarkt, Austria.

Kronberger swept the giant slalom and the slalom last weekend at Val Zoldana, Italy, where Diann Roffe of Isle La Motte, Vt., was the leading American, finishing eighth and sixth. Eva Twardokens of Santa Cruz contributed an eighth place in the slalom.

Franck Piccard of France won the opening men’s super-G race last Sunday at Valloire, France, as U.S. skiers failed to score a point.

The men also have a slalom scheduled next Tuesday at Sestriere, Italy.

Skiing Notes

The U.S. Pro Tour may be over before it gets warmed up. Bernhard Knauss of Austria won both races last weekend at Alpine Meadows, making it four of four this season going into this weekend at Mt. Snow, Vt. . . . Hank Kashiwa, former U.S. ski team racer and pro champion, has been named president of Volant Ski Corp. in Boulder, Colo. . . . Bob Beattie will start his fifth season as host of “Subaru Ski World” today at 4:30 p.m., PST, on ESPN.

In addition to the retirements of Tamara McKinney and Swiss stars Maria Walliser and Michela Figini, the World Cup women’s tour also lost Mateja Svet of Yugoslavia, who quit at the advanced age of 21, saying: “I am tired of a lifestyle I have led ever since I was a little girl.”. . . McKinney will be official spokesperson for Jimmie Heuga’s Mazda Ski Express.

Jean-Claude Killy has withdrawn from consideration for the 1991 AT&T; Skiing Award, asking that his nomination be deferred until he completes his duties as co-president of the Albertville Olympic Organizing Committee in 1992. That leaves Phil Mahre and Andrea Mead Lawrence as the nominees. . . . Diana Golden, 27, the top U.S. disabled skier, retired from racing and has been hired as a marketing associate by Aspen Highlands, Colo.