SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : Roffe’s Hopes Hinge on Damage to Knee

Diann Roffe, America’s leading ski racer, will be examined today by Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colo., to determine the extent of damage to her left knee, which she injured Wednesday in a downhill training spill at Morzine, France.

One of Roffe’s teammates, Kristin Krone, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: “The doctor (in France) examined her, and there is a problem with the ligaments of the left knee but he doesn’t know how serious. According to the doctor, Diann could miss about three weeks or (up to) six months.”

If the diagnosis results in a three-week absence, Roffe, 23, of Isle La Motte, Vt., will miss only the World Cup downhill, slalom and combined events at Morzine today and Saturday, and probably the first two races when the circuit resumes on Jan. 6-7. Six months, of course, would sideline her for the rest of the season, including the World Alpine Ski Championships at Saalbach, Austria, Jan. 21-Feb. 3.

It was in the 1985 World Championships at Bormio, Italy, that the then 17-year-old Roffe surprised everyone by winning the gold medal in the giant slalom.

There followed a string of injuries that resulted in four operations--two on each knee. Last season, she appeared to have regained her form and finished 10th in the World Cup women’s overall standings with 130 points. After five races this season, she is in fourth place with 29 points.

The U.S. women’s team is already competing this winter without Kristi Terzian, who suffered a serious knee injury in October, after scoring points in 17 World Cup races last season.

Petra Kronberger of Austria continues to dominate the World Cup women with 115 points, followed by teammate Sigrid Wolf with 45 and Germany’s Katrin Gutensohn with 34.

Italian hero Alberto Tomba hopes to regain the men’s lead in a slalom and giant slalom today and Saturday at Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia. He has 72 points, four fewer than Franz Heinzer of Switzerland.

Ole Christian Furuseth, who won last Tuesday’s slalom on Tomba’s home slopes at Madonna di Campiglio, is third with 63, followed by fellow Norwegian Atle Skaardal with 52 and three-time World Cup overall champion Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg with 51.

A.J. Kitt, 22, of Rochester, N.Y., is the top American in 44th place. He has eight points after finishing 15th and then ninth in a pair of downhills last weekend at Val Gardena, Italy.

Snow fell on California this week, just in time to improve conditions for the holidays.

In the Southland, Big Bear was blanketed with four to six inches of powder--meaning that Snow Valley, Snow Summit and Bear Mountain have depths of 12 to 36 inches of natural and man-made snow--and Mountain High, near Wrightwood, added an inch or so, giving it similar coverage.

The High Sierra, which had been skimping along, is now in relatively good shape after the cold storm dumped eight to 28 inches on resorts from Mammoth Mountain to Lake Tahoe.

Mammoth reported 12 inches of new snow, boosting its total to 30 inches at the top of the mountain. Warming Hut II will be warmed up this weekend for skiing off chairlifts 17 and 7, with No. 16 operating mainly for access to other runs. In all, 10-12 lifts will be running.

High winds forced Mammoth to shut down Wednesday, but the Eastern Sierra resort was open again Thursday, as was nearby June Mountain, which offered skiers a 24-inch base for the first day of its season.

On the Western slope, Mt. Reba at Bear Valley also opened Thursday, making it just about unanimous in Central and Northern California.

Skiing Notes

The U.S. Pro Tour will take the next two weekends off before resuming action Jan. 4-6, the men at Heavenly Valley and the women at Bromley Mountain, Vt. Phil Mahre of Yakima, Wash., won his first race of the season when he defeated Roland Pfeifer of Austria in the slalom final last Sunday at Nashoba Valley, Mass., after beating twin brother Steve Mahre in the round of 16. Bernhard Knauss of Austria hooked a ski tip in both heats of his round-of-16 race but still leads the men’s standings with 155 points, 60 more than Tomaz Cerkovnik of Yugoslavia.

Big Bear Express, the new high-speed detachable quad chairlift at Bear Mountain, opens Saturday. . . . Breckenridge, Colo., dedicates its fourth quad chairlift Sunday with Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper and Scott Carpenter participating in the ceremonies. The $5-million lift serving Beaver Run has been named the Mercury SuperChair.

“Warren Miller’s Extreme Skiing,” produced by Warren Miller of Hermosa Beach, won “Best of Festival” honors at the Ray-Ban International Ski Film Festival in Crested Butte, Colo. . . . ESPN will show highlights of the recent 24 Hours of Aspen ski marathon at Aspen, Colo., today at 5 p.m., PST, following “Subaru Ski World With Bob Beattie” at 4:30.