Snowed Under By Ski Deals : Thanks to the earliest snow in years, recession-battered mountain resorts are open and offering great bargains. Here’s a state-by-state look at the best in the West.

The recent “mega-storm” that swept across the country lowered blankets of unseasonable snow--and raised the spirits of skiers from Big Bear to Big Mountain. Suddenly, drought-weary resort operators moved into high gear and skiers who had been thinking of switching permanently to golf began checking their bindings.

In the Sierra north of Los Angeles, beleaguered Mammoth Mountain had a pre-Halloween opening--although only a few startled skiers were on hand to take advantage of the two feet of untrammeled base snow and discounted lift tickets. Kirkwood, south of Lake Tahoe, got under way the day after Mammoth, and Alpine Meadows opened a few days later, inaugurating two new lifts. Up in Oregon, Mt. Bachelor had only the fifth October opening in its history, and in the Rockies there was euphoria over early-season openings at Keystone, Loveland and Vail. Aspen opened last weekend, the earliest start date in that tony resort’s 45-year history.

The more good news is that, before it started snowing, Western ski resorts, hotels, lodges and ski packagers were busy putting together an assortment of deals to get folks on the slopes. And while the early snow has raised hopes for a long white season, the recession is still producing better-than-ever bargains from resorts and lodgings competing to pry open skiers’ wallets. “There’s over-capacity in the ski industry and we want to fill the rooms and slopes,” confirms John Norton, vice president of communications for Aspen Skiing Co.

That over-capacity is especially acute during what the ski industry calls the “shoulder seasons,” from opening day until Christmas vacation--meaning now--and from late March or early April through closing day. “The hot shoulder season deals are the ski industry equivalent of ‘bat day’ at the ballpark,” Norton added.

So if you got an adrenaline rush just passing the “Born to Ski” poster advertising Warren Miller’s current ski flick, you might consider the following compendium of early-season bargains--including some that may be around to the spring melt.

CALIFORNIA and NEVADA

The azure-blue waters of Lake Tahoe are rimmed with casino hotels and motels trying to fill up rooms during their low season--winter! Harvey’s Resort Hotel/Casino on the South Shore in Nevada has two- and three-night packages starting at $142.50 and $205 per person, double occupancy, which include lodging, lift tickets good at Heavenly Valley, Kirkwood or Squaw Valley, daily breakfast buffet, a dinner for two with margaritas and a box lunch. Call (800) 648-3361 for more information.

The Horizon Casino Resort, a Radisson property also on Lake Tahoe’s South Shore, has a two-night, $99-per-person, double-occupancy midweek package that includes one lift ticket, a gaming fun book ($25 value) and various credits for the resort’s buffet and cabaret show. Another package, the hotel’s $99 Skier Supersaver package, is for one night’s lodging and a four-wheel-drive Jeep from Dollar Rent A Car. Stay three days and get the fourth-night hotel stay and fourth-day car rental free. For more information, call Lake Tahoe Horizon Casino Resort through Radisson reservations at (800) 333-3333 or directly at (702) 588-6211.

Three nights at the new Embassy Suites Resort in South Lake Tahoe, plus three days of lifts at your choice of six ski areas--Heavenly Valley, Squaw Valley, Kirkwood, Alpine Meadows, Northstar and Sierra Ski Ranch--start at $296 per person, including daily breakfast and complimentary cocktail reception. Six nights’ lodging and five days’ lift packages in condominiums and homes go from $365 per person through Heavenly Central Reservations at (800) 2-HEAVEN. For more information about these packages and a copy of the 1991-92 Lake Tahoe Travel Planner and the 1991-92 Winter Package Brochure, call (800) AT-TAHOE.

Here’s a real cheap one: A $29 room at the plain-but-with-casino Tahoe Biltmore on the North Shore in Crystal Bay (some rooms with two double beds). The room rate includes a “fun pack” filled with discounts on gaming, food and beverages. (The Biltmore has a 99-cent breakfast, too.) Complimentary shuttle and discounted lift tickets to the Diamond Peak-Lake Tahoe ski area in Incline Village are available and the hotel is within easy driving distance of several other ski areas. For more information, call the Tahoe Biltmore at (800) 468-2463.

Diamond Peak-Lake Tahoe offers a $29 “First Time” beginner special that includes a two-hour lesson, rental equipment and a lift ticket for the beginner chair. For lodging reservations at Diamond Peak, call (800) GO-TAHOE.

Once at Lake Tahoe, new skiers might also consider the “Fun in the Sun” program, a free introduction to skiing at California’s nearby Squaw Valley USA. Those who’ve never skied (known in ski parlance as “never evers”) get a free lift via cable car to (and from) the beginner’s area at mid-mountain, plus instruction and equipment. You must be age 13 or older and visit from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday (holiday periods excluded). There’s no cost, but a $38 refundable deposit is required when registering at the Cable Car building at the base of the mountain.

NEW MEXICO

Many of the lodges in the Taos Ski Valley offer about a 20% reduction on three or more days’ lift-and-lodging-package prices during low season (Dec. 2-20 and March 29 to April 5). In January, there’s a 10% discount on the five- and six-day Ski-Better-Week packages when booked with lodging. These discounts can amount to considerable savings. For example, the low-season discount rate for all-inclusive packages at the Hotel St. Bernard is $1,000. The package--normally $1,291--includes seven nights’ lodging, 20 gourmet meals, six lift tickets and six morning lessons. For more information, call Taos Ski Valley at (800) 992-7669 or, in New Mexico, (505) 776-2233.

Gallery hopping, art shopping and fine art museum browsing are terrific apres -ski activities, especially in Santa Fe. Just book one of the lodging packages that include lift tickets at Santa Fe Ski Area, 16 miles northeast of town.

At the luxurious Hotel Eldorado, $323 per person, double occupancy, buys three days of lifts and four nights’ lodging. Perks with this package include complimentary dessert and coffee after dinner and reduced rates for massages. If your wallet is thinner, check into Garrett’s Desert Inn, just two blocks from the plaza. The three days’ lifts and four nights’ lodging package is $176 per person, double occupancy. Best buy for skiers on a stringent budget is the Santa Fe Travelodge (rated “best-managed, best-run” in the country this year by Travelodge Corp.), which is six blocks from the plaza. The three days’ lifts and four nights’ lodging package is $151 per person, double occupancy. Add-ons offered to these packages include a $7 all-day “never ever” ski lesson or a $16 all-day “brushup” lesson. Packages are good throughout the ski season, except between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Call Santa Fe Central Reservations at (800) 982-SNOW to book these and other ski packages.

COLORADO

Beat the crowds and high-season prices at any resort--but especially in posh ski towns such as Aspen and Beaver Creek--by vacationing during shoulder seasons. Typically, the before-Thanksgiving-to-Christmas window is the slowest part of ski season, so resorts offer the best lodging/lift bargains of the winter. In Vail, seven nights’ lodging at the Vail Racquet Club condos, six days’ lifts and ground transportation to and from Denver starts at $608 per person, double occupancy, between Thanksgiving and Dec. 21, and March 21 through April 19. For more information, call (800) 525-2257.

And Vail has a hot deal for ski club members. Collect a minimum of 10 members and have a spokesperson book space at Vail’s first National Ski Club Week, Dec. 7-14. Package prices start at $323 per person, double occupancy, for five nights’ lodging and four days’ lifts, and go from $444 per person, double occupancy, for seven nights’ lodging and six days’ lifts. The tariff also entitles club members to parties, a discount coupon booklet, a free run on a timed race course, a club photo and entry in the Challenge Cup ski race. Optional programs offered only to ski club members on the package will include a three-day learn-to-ski package for an additional $35, a three-day ski-school package for $60 and a three-day race camp for $50. For more information, call Vail and Beaver Creek Resort Sales at (800) 525-2257.

Luxury lodging might be within your budget during slow periods at even the poshest hostelries. In some cases, prices drop $100 a night or more from the “rack” rate for Christmas Eve. Visit the posh slope-side Hyatt Regency Beaver Creek during shoulder seasons and you will save $500 to $630 per package over the high-season rate. The seven-night, six-lift-day, six-breakfast package runs $1,019 per person, double occupancy, April 1-12, and $1,149 per person, double occupancy, Nov. 27-Dec. 19--that’s opposed to the high-season rate of $1,649, Jan. 31 to March 31.

The Beaver Creek Hyatt also runs a “Single Share” package offering solo travelers the chance to be matched with a roommate and pay half of the double-occupancy rate--instead of being charged the usual single-occupancy markup. For seven nights’ lodging, six days’ lifts and breakfasts, packages range from $1,019 per person, double occupancy, to $1,649--depending upon the season. The Hyatt does same-sex matching based on such factors as age range and preference for smoking or nonsmoking roommate. If no roommate match is possible, Hyatt says it will still guarantee the double-occupancy price in a single-occupancy room. For details, call (800) 233-1234 or (303) 949-1234.

Many national hotel chains with properties in ski resorts allow children 12 and younger to stay free in their parents’ room, and many other resort properties have similar policies. Teens 18 and under, for example, stay free in parents’ rooms at the Hyatt Regency Beaver Creek.

A $79 room at the Comfort Inn in Avon, at the entrance to Beaver Creek, includes a complimentary shuttle to Beaver Creek and a shuttle--for a charge--to Vail Town Square. Youths 18 and younger can stay free with their parents at this hotel, which has an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi. This package works out to about $20 per person per night for a family of four; weekend prices are higher. Call (800) 424-6423 for more information.

At Copper Mountain Resort, early- and late-season lodging in Automobile Assn. of America-rated four-diamond hotels in the core village starts at $52 a night per person, double occupancy. The price includes lift tickets. Children 12 and younger can stay in the same room and ski free, dropping the price to $26 a day per person for a family of four. This is good now through Dec. 12, and April 5 to the season close in late April. For information, call (800) 458-8386.

Aspen’s early opening caught even the hotels by surprise, so call Central Reservations for early-opening deals that may have been formulated as this story went to press. In addition, during Aspen’s “Value Seasons,” Nov. 28 to Dec. 20 and April 4-19, four-day lift and five-night packages start at $332 per person, double occupancy. Six-day, seven-night packages start at $460 per person, double occupancy. For more information, call Aspen Central Reservations at (800) 262-7736.

How does $1,135 sound for a holiday week at Snowmass Resort? It includes air fare to and from Los Angeles, seven nights’ lodging and a six-of-seven-day lift ticket. This per-person package is good Dec. 21-28. The package price drops to $1,050 if you ski between Dec. 14 and 21. Kids 6 and under ski free at Aspen and Snowmass. For more information, call (800) 332-3245.

You can ski and lodge at Aspen Highlands (one of the four Aspen ski areas, which also include Aspen Mountain, Snowmass and Tiehack/Buttermilk) for $69 per person, double occupancy, any night during the season. The lodging/lift packages are valid at both Maroon Creek Lodge and the Heatherbed Lodge at the base of the ski area. A minimum stay of seven nights is required, but only five lift tickets are included. For more information, call Maroon Creek Lodge at (303) 925-3491 or Heatherbed Lodge (303) 925-7077.

You can save--and plump up the family photo album--if you ski this year at the Purgatory-Durango Ski Resort in the southwest corner of the state. Book a minimum four nights’ lodging and four days’ lifts at Purgatory-Durango through the central reservations office and you’ll get a free Polaroid Spirit 600 camera.

Land-only packages (excluding air fare) currently available through central reservations at Purgatory-Durango include a one-bedroom condo in the slope-side Purgatory Village Hotel and free airport shuttle, plus four days’ lifts for $540 per person, double occupancy, midwinter (Jan. 5 through March 13). Five nights in a bi-level suite in the unadorned Iron Horse Inn (for budget-minded skiers), plus four days’ lifts, start at $225 per person, double occupancy, midwinter (Jan. 5 through March 5). Five nights’ lodging and four days’ lifts in the antique-furnished Victorian Strater Hotel in downtown Durango runs $280 per person, double occupancy, midwinter (Jan. 5 through March 21). For more information, call central reservations at (800) 525-0892.

Three-day packages, including a round-trip charter flight from Los Angeles to the Purgatory-Durango Ski Resort, three nights’ lodging, a three-day lift ticket, transfers and taxes, go from $399 per person, double occupancy, Jan. 22 to March 8. Four- and seven-day packages are also available. Packages may be booked through Purgatory-Durango central reservations at (800) 525-0892 or through Sportours, the charter company, at (800) 660-2754.

Spend Thanksgiving in Telluride on one of several early-season, wallet-friendly deals offered by various lodging companies in that picturesque town that ends in a box canyon. Telluride’s Resort Rentals property management company offers a “Telluride Thanksgiving” lift-and-lodging package that includes four nights in an in-town condo and three days’ skiing for $139 per person, double occupancy. For more information about the Thanksgiving package, call (800) 538-7754.

The “Telluride Ski-for-Free” program offers free skiing to anyone booking a vacation through the Lodges at Telluride management company at any of its properties from Nov. 27 through Dec. 20, and March 29 through April 5. (Note: There’s a Women’s Week Dec. 2-6.) Lodging rates start at $55 a night per person, double occupancy, no minimum stay required. For more information, call Lodges at Telluride at (800) 446-3192.

The high alpine town of Ouray, called the “Switzerland of America” for the surrounding scenery, has teamed up with Telluride to offer skiers half-price lift tickets at Telluride and free hot springs pool passes in Ouray when skiers stay in Ouray--in clear weather, an easy hour’s drive from Telluride. Early-season packages, Nov. 27 through Dec. 20, at properties in Ouray start at $35 per person, double occupancy. Regular-season packages, Dec. 21 through Jan. 3, start at $36 per person, double occupancy. For more information, contact the Ouray Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 145T, Ouray, Colo. 81427, (800) 228-1876 or (303) 325-4746.

This may be a first in the country: Everyone skis free at relaxed, unpretentious Crested Butte between that resort’s Nov. 27 opening and Dec. 14. Just march up to the ticket window and ask for a lift ticket--no strings attached. On top of that, first-timer ski lessons are free. And ski school and equipment rentals are discounted for all during those 2 1/2 weeks.

Add on lodging deals in Crested Butte to ensure a real cheap trip. Slopeside lodging and breakfast buffet in the 300-plus-room Grand Butte Hotel runs $89 per night for two in a room ($15 for each additional person in the same room). Three nights’ lodging begins at $75 per person, double occupancy, in the more rustic lodges in the historic town of Crested Butte--three miles from the slopes. For more information, call (800) 544-8448.

The Keystone Resort “Collection of Values” gift book offers hundreds of dollars in savings on air fare, lodging, activities, meals, merchandise and ski-rental equipment. Deals range from 20% off (up to $600) a five-night stay to $5 off dinner entrees for each diner (up to six) at the resort’s new mountaintop restaurant, The Outpost. Call (800) 222-0188 for the book.

Also at Keystone, there’s a $616-per-person, double-occupancy package that includes five nights’ lodging, four days’ skiing, use of a full-size rental car and round-trip air fare from Los Angeles. A five-night stay qualifies two “never ever” skiers for a half-day lesson each, ski rental and lift ticket for the Checkerboard lift. Beginners must be 6 or older; the “never ever” program is in effect all season, with the exclusion of Christmas week and President’s Weekend. For more information, (800) 222-0188.

UTAH

During the “toucan” season (as in “two can stay for the price of one”) at Park City, skiers get two nights’ lodging for the price of one, and a grab bag filled with two-for-one offers from restaurants, merchants and clubs. The “toucan” seasons run Dec. 1-11 and March 28 to April 1. For more information, call (800) 453-1360.

Staying in Salt Lake City and skiing at the resorts in the neighboring canyons offers the best of both worlds--at great prices. Snowbird, Park City, Sundance and Snowbasin are just some of the ski areas located between 30 minutes and 1 hour 15 minutes from city center, and lodging costs less in this city than many other urban centers. Rates range from about$30 a night per room in modest motels to $95 per room in a luxury hotel. Many hotels and motels offer lodging/ski lift packages. Most are on or near the public bus routes that take skiers to the ski areas. Check out the Doubletree Hotel, where packages start at $675 per person, double occupancy, for seven nights’ lodging, six days’ skiing and complete buffet breakfasts. Also the historic Peery Hotel, where seven-day lodging packages start at $224 per person, double occupancy. For a Utah Winter Vacation Travel Planner that describes many lodging choices, contact Ski Utah, 307 West 200 South, Suite 1003, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101, (801) 534-1779.

IDAHO

Tour operators who specialize in skiing offer some of the best ski packages. Because these packagers buy air space, rooms and lift tickets in bulk, they often offer solid deals. You can still afford the steak, along with those Idaho potatoes, when you book one of these packages: A $625 trip includes round-trip air fare from Los Angeles or San Diego, two days of skiing at Schweitzer and another two days’ skiing at Silver Mountain, plus five nights’ lodging in a lake-view room at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Transportation to the ski areas, transportation to and from the resort and all taxes and gratuities are included. Trips run Wednesdays through Mondays throughout the winter, as space is available. (There’s a minimal upgrade fee for Christmas week.) For more information, contact Daman-Nelson Travel, Inc., at (619) 235-6454.

And for a list of tour operators specializing in skiing, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the new Ski Tour Operators Assn. at 204 East 11th St., New York 10003.

Sun Valley offers several theme weeks during which visitors can stay at many hotels and condo complexes in the region, including the Sun Valley Inn, for as little as $340 per person, double occupancy. (Packages at the upscale Sun Valley Lodge start at $501 per person, double occupancy, still a bargain.) The packages include seven nights’ lodging and a five-out-of-six-day lift ticket, parties and many activities keyed to the week’s theme. Theme weeks include Prime Time Special (skiers age 60 and older get the best deal but younger adults are welcome), Jan. 4-11; Singles Week, Jan. 11-18; Western Week, Jan. 25 to Feb. 1, and Ski Club Week (you don’t have to belong to a club), March 7-14. (Children 17 and younger stay and ski free for much of the season at several properties.) Contact: Sun Valley Resort at (800) SUN-VALY or the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce at (800) 634-3347.

WYOMING

At the Snow King Resort in the town of Jackson, seven-night, eight-day packages including five lift tickets (good at Snow King, Jackson Hole and Grand Targhee) start at $399 per person. Children 13 and younger stay free in parents’ room at this hotel and also ski free with a parent purchasing a lift ticket at the Snow King Ski Area outside the hotel. For more information, call (800) 522-KING.

MONTANA

Have you ever skied at Big Mountain? Just $295 per person, double occupancy, purchases five nights of ski lodging, five days’ lifts and five full breakfasts anytime except Christmas week. The price drops to $260 per person, double occupancy, during super-value seasons in early December and the beginning of April to closing. For more information, call Big Mountain at (406) 862-3511.

CANADA

Cross the border and you’ll enter a different style of ski world. Head northward to the town of Banff in Alberta, where lodging packages with lift passes good at Mt. Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise (plus transportation to the ski areas) start at about $53 U.S. per person per night, double occupancy. For more information, call (800) 661-8888.

The longer you’ve been married, the cheaper your trip--when you book the Honeymooners’ Delight Second Time Around package at the luxurious Chateau Whistler Resort in Whistler, British Columbia. Bring your marriage certificate and check in before Dec. 19. If you got married in 1955, you’ll only pay $55 Canadian per night (about $49 in American dollars); if you got married in 1979, the rate will be $79 per night (about $70 U.S.). The longer the marriage, the better the deal. (Once you’re there, Whistler Mountain’s $34 beginner package includes lift, lesson and rentals.) For more information, call Chateau Whistler at (604) 938-8000.

You, too, can lodge in a plush millionaire’s hideaway. A stay at the rustically luxurious cedar chalets and log cabins at Jasper Park Lodge in the middle of Jasper National Park, plus a daily lift ticket to nearby Marmot Basin, costs about $50 U.S. per person per night, double occupancy, between Jan. 2 and Feb. 14. For more information, call the lodge at (403) 852-3301.

Train Packages

If you like to ride the rails, Amtrak has a variety of ski packages for resorts in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico. The packages include train fare, transfers to and from the train station, lodging, lifts and other amenities. A fly-one-way option may be available. Prices vary according to destination, length of stay and point of origination. For example, a regular-season package at Colorado’s Winter Park Ski Resort, including five nights’ lodging, four days’ lifts, round-trip coach from Los Angeles, transfers and taxes starts at $532 per person, double occupancy.

Four days on the slopes in Taos, N.M., are yours for as little as $705 per person, double occupancy. The package includes five nights’ lodging at the Holiday Inn in Taos, four days’ lifts, round-trip coach from Los Angeles to Albuquerque and transfer to the hotel. For more information, call Amtrak at (800) 872-7245.

Rules for Packages

Many packages may only be available on certain dates and on a space-available basis. Most packages listed do not include taxes and gratuities. Additional days may be added to some packages, and some package prices may be adjusted for nonskiers. Always ask about refund and cancellation policies before booking a vacation package.