SKIING : Being a Pro Finally Is Profitable
Pro skiing finally paid off for at least one racer this season.
After more than 20 years of mainly meager purses, the sliding-for-dollars circuit enriched its champion, Bernhard Knauss, by $356,265, lifting him close to the earnings range of many of the “amateur” competitors on the World Cup circuit.
Knauss, 25, also won a couple of Plymouths--this should provide a hint of which company was a major sponsor--as he topped the standings of both the U.S. Pro Tour and its subsidiary Super Series. Last year, Knauss was given a car by fellow Austrian Roland Pfeifer, who scored a similar double as Knauss finished second overall. So far, there has been no word whether Pfeifer, who wound up 11th this season, will have his favor repaid.
Pfeifer, incidentally, picked up checks totaling $221,816 while winning the 1989-90 title.
With 807.5 points, Knauss led the 1990-91 chase from November to April, beating runner-up Phil Mahre, a three-time World Cup champion, by 178 points. Mahre, who turns 34 in May, won the slalom last Sunday at Steamboat, Colo., to edge Ove Nygren of Norway by 5.5 points. Mahre, of Yakima, Wash., earned $138,550, Nygren $88,266, indicating that there was little trickle-down effect from first place.
Of course, each pro racer also receives monetary and equipment support from contracts with various suppliers--ski companies, etc.--so the three leaders probably had total incomes at least double their earnings in prize money.
The top 10 or 15 World Cup racers--the ones who will compete in next year’s Winter Olympics--take home an estimated $500,000 to $1 million a year from their supplier contracts, which include bonuses for good results. So far, prize money, introduced this season, is minimal, but the overall potential rewards are enough to keep the best skiers from turning professional while still in their prime.
Virtually all major ski resorts in the West are remaining open for at least another week or two, and conditions couldn’t be much better. There is plenty of snow everywhere, especially throughout California, where the season will extend well into May.
Deer Valley, Utah, and Purgatory, Colo., have closed, but they are the exceptions.
At the other end of the spectrum, Southland ski areas can make it through Mother’s Day, May 12, if they care to do so; Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows plan to continue operating until Memorial Day, and Mammoth Mountain has its sights set on an even later date, perhaps July 4.
Skiing Notes
A 90-minute GGP-produced special on last month’s “American Ski Classic” at Vail, Colo., will be shown on Channel 2 Sunday at 1:30 p.m. . . . Roman Truetsch and Mimi Walker, both of Mammoth Lakes, won the Hard Corps Skier challenge last weekend at Mammoth Mountain.
The U.S. Freestyle Ski Championships continue through Sunday at Winter Park, Colo. . . . The U.S. Disabled Ski Championships are in progress through Monday at Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore. . . . Sugar Bowl will play host to its traditional Silver Belt race Saturday. . . . Finals of the Grand Marnier Chefs race will be held this weekend at Sun Valley, Ida.
Activity on April 13-14 includes the national finals of Jimmie Heuga’s Mazda Ski Express at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colo.; the Ray-Ban Great Race Series National Championships for ski instructors, shop employees and technicians at Copper Mountain, Colo., and the Ski Classic’s Hertz National Championships for corporate teams at Snowbird, Utah.