SKIING / CHRIS DUFRESNE : It’s Already Been a Long Season for U.S.

Christmas break is sort of the All-Star break on the World Cup circuit, a time for pause and reflection.

Unfortunately, there aren’t enough mirrors to go around at the U.S. ski team’s headquarters at Park City, Utah, where the usual preseason optimism has been replaced by the usual dose of reality.

After a month, the U.S. women are still clinging to Julie Parisien’s opening slalom victory at hometown Park City.

The men?

Let’s put it this way: Should AJ Kitt ever go down, the U.S. team would effectively disappear from the face of the earth.

So far, U.S. hopes have been going downhill a lot faster than most of its skiers. The women’s team is deep, as expected. Fourteen U.S. women have scored World Cup points, which requires a finish in the top 30.

But Parisien remains the only U.S. woman with a podium--top three--finish.

Maybe expectations were too great. Downhiller Hillary Lindh won the silver medal last February in Albertville at the Winter Olympics.

She has been solid so far, but not spectacular, boasting top finishes of sixth and eighth place.

Diann Roffe-Steinrotter tied for a silver medal in giant slalom at Albertville, but has yet to get her skis uncrossed this season. Her best finish was a seventh in giant slalom at Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Parisien began the season as the world’s No. 1 ranked slalom skier and opened the World Cup season with a spectacular slalom victory.

But she failed to qualify for both slalom and giant slalom at Steamboat the following week and did not compete at Lake Louise, Alberta, in mid-December after being told of her brother’s death in an automobile accident.

Parisien is expected to return to the U.S. team when the World Cup resumes next month in Slovenia.

Lake Louise also spelled doom for Eva Twardokens, who tore her left anterior cruciate knee ligament and will miss the rest of the season.

Dennis Agee, the U.S. Alpine director, is hoping the team’s luck will change when the World Cup moves to Europe in January.

“We think one of things that happened was that there was a lot of pressure from starting in the U.S., and the older girls didn’t handle the pressure as well as they should have,” Agee said. “And they admit that too. They’re ready to go over to Europe and get back to work.”

The women’s circuit resumes Jan. 9 in Maribor, Slovenia.

The most pleasant surprise has been the emergence of Megan Gerety, who finished ninth in a super giant slalom at Vail and then pulled off a shocking fifth-place finish at Lake Louise after starting 52nd.

Gerety is returning after two injury-plagued seasons, low-lighted by her appearance at the 1992 Olympic Games, where she injured her knee running into a coach on a training run. Agee thinks there is time to turn things around.

“We’re not in the panic mode,” he said. “We have a battle plan we’re still not going away from. We’re less than a quarter of the way through the season. We’re not going to go away from the game plan this soon.”

The best news the women’s team got came this week when Petra Kronberger, the great Austrian, announced her retirement at 23. The U.S. women, who rank fourth in the Nations Cup, have no chance of catching the Austrians for the overall title, but the absence of Kronberger does open the field.

All dreams for the men are pinned to downhiller Kitt’s bib, but even his season got off to a rocky start. He sprained an ankle in November playing pickup basketball, leaving doubt whether he would recover in time for the World Cup opener at Val d’Isere, France.

Kitt did return for the opener and was leading after the first run, only to have the race canceled later because of bad weather.

Kitt finished third in a recent downhill at Val Gardena, Italy, but the only other American to so much as get a whiff the top 10 was Tommy Moe, who placed 12th in the same downhill event.

On the technical side, the U.S. men have failed to finish a slalom or giant slalom this season.

Agee was hoping this would be a breakthrough year for top slalom prospect Matt Grosjean, who finished 10th at Albertville.

But Grosjean has been a disappointment.

“The step he has to make now, from being in the top 20 in the world to being the top five is the hardest step,” Agee said. “That’s where you lose 90% of the athletes.

“I think he went in maybe a little overconfident. Then when it didn’t happen right away, personally I think he put too much pressure on himself.”

The American men have been faring better in Europa Cup races, but have not been able to mix it up with the big boys on the World Cup.

And Grosjean is the hope for the U.S. in slalom.

“We’re not down on the men’s team,” Agee said. “This next step Matt has to make might take him all year to make it.”

Those who have followed Kronberger on the World Cup circuit this season were not entirely shocked when the Austrian announced her retirement Monday. Kronberger, a three-time defending World Cup overall champion, was lacking her usual spark in recent races.

The French sports daily L’Equipe suggests that Kronberger’s decision to quit might have been influenced by the recent death of Austrian downhiller Peter Wirnsberger, who was killed while skiing.

A car crash that claimed the lives of Kronberger’s trainer, Alois Kahr, and skier Rudo Nierlich might have also influenced her, L’Equipe suggested.

In her short career, Kronberger won two Olympic gold medals, the world championship downhill and 16 World Cup races.

It was a double whammy for the World Cup this week. Paul Accola of Switzerland, the defending men’s overall champion, was injured during a training run and will be out at least six weeks to recover from knee surgery. Accola will miss the World Championships at Morioka, Japan, and it appears doubtful that he can repeat as overall champion.

Skiing Notes

The latest series of storms is deluging the local mountains with new snow. The problem is getting there to ski. The Big Bear resorts are open, but chains are required. Call the Highway Patrol for the latest road conditions. . . . It was snowing too hard for Mt. Baldy to open Tuesday. Workers were also having a difficult time keeping the roads clear. For the latest information, call the Mt. Baldy hotline, (714) 547-3311. . . . Mt. Waterman was also closed Tuesday because of poor road conditions. Information: (818) 790-2002. . . . Mountain High in Wrightwood, the local resort that requires the least mountain driving, is open, but chains are required there also.