SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : So Far, Skiers Are Not Boycotting Snow

Heavy, constant snowfall covers everything with a fluffy blanket of white, smoothing out bumps and ruts and hiding all sorts of eyesores and imperfections. In Colorado this winter, the effect has been to camouflage any indications that skiers are heeding the call of gay-rights groups to boycott the state.

Just say snow, apparently, and people who ski will go directly to the slopes; social issues and politics can wait until spring.

More than 2.5 million skier visits were reported in November and December by Colorado Ski Country USA, an increase of 12.5% over the same two months in 1991. And retail spending in the state’s eight major ski counties rose 8.3% during that same period.

“There’s no question that our excellent early-season snow has been a big plus,” said Sara Shankland, public affairs specialist with the trade association that represents Colorado’s ski resorts. “Because of it, we haven’t really noticed any effects of a boycott. Nobody is actually tracking cancellations, but future bookings continue to be strong.”

At Aspen, first or second home to many show business and sports celebrities, business is up more than 10% for the season to date, according to Killeen Russell, communications director for the Aspen Skiing Co.

“We’ve received some letters from people saying they were canceling their ski vacations to protest (Colorado’s passage of a measure prohibiting special protection for gays and lesbians),” she said. “But those reservations were usually filled by other skiers. So far this month, it’s snowed 19 of the 21 days, and that’s a lot of Rocky Mountain powder.”

Aspen reported 46 to 49 inches of powder and packed powder Thursday. Vail had 41 to 57 inches of the white stuff. The bases aren’t especially deep, at least by California standards, but they are more than adequate--and they have been in that range most of the season.

Another foot or two of snow fell

in the High Sierra on Wednesday and Thursday, boosting the pack to near-record levels just about everywhere.

A comparison of some current depths with those reported on this date a year ago provides an indication of just how wet and white the winter has been:

--Mammoth Mountain now has 132 to 180 inches; on Jan. 22, 1992, it had 36 to 72.

--Kirkwood boasts 168 to 216 inches; this contrasts with 36 to 48 a year ago.

--Heavenly Valley is covered by 78 to 162 inches; last year, the South Lake Tahoe resort was scraping by with 36 to 50.

--Squaw Valley, north of Tahoe, is buried under 120 to 244 inches; in ‘92, rocks were poking through a 22- to 42-inch base.

The figures aren’t quite so dramatic for Southland ski areas, but they’re in good shape, too, with 30 to 96 inches on their slopes.

This is the final weekend of World Cup action before the “White Circus” packs its tents and heads for Morioka-Shizukuishi, Japan, where the biennial World Alpine Ski Championships will be held Feb. 3-14.

The men are at Veysonnaz, Switzerland, for a downhill Saturday and a slalom Sunday. The dates were originally awarded to Wengen for its classic Lauberhorn meet, but a snow shortage there forced the quick shuffle to a whiter section of the Swiss Alps.

Marc Girardelli, the Austrian who competes for Luxembourg, is on track toward a record fifth overall title, topping the standings with 925 points to 612 for runner-up Alberto Tomba of Italy. Tomba placed second to Michael von Gruenigen of Switzerland in a giant slalom at Veysonnaz Tuesday, a race in which Jeremy Nobis of Park City, Utah, finished a creditable ninth.

AJ Kitt, America’s top male skier, had only the 40th-fastest downhill training time Thursday, but Tom Kelly, U.S. Skiing’s director of communications, said from Park City: “He usually sandbags it on his first run, so that’s not surprising. AJ has had kind of an up-and-down season, but he seems to be in pretty good shape now with the World Championships coming up.”

Olympic silver medalist Hilary Lindh of Juneau, Alaska, turned in the third-quickest training run Thursday at Haus, Austria, where the women will compete in downhills today and Saturday, followed by a slalom Sunday. Lindh is coming off her best World Cup finish, a fifth, in last Friday’s downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Picabo Street of Sun Valley, Ida., also posted her best result in that race, placing eighth, just ahead of Austria’s Anita Wachter, who leads the women’s overall chase with 741 points, 158 more than her closest challenger, Carole Merle of France.

In the slalom at Haus, Julie Parisien of Auburn, Me., will be trying to improve her position in the standings. She is 18th with 184 points.

“Parisien dinged her left knee about 10 days ago,” Kelly said. “But it turned out to be relatively minor, so she stayed in Europe and continued racing.”

Skiing Notes

Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht isn’t skiing moguls this season because of injuries, but the U.S. freestyle team has found another star in Ellen Breen of West Hills, Calif., who won her third World Cup ballet competition of the season last weekend at Breckenridge, Colo. . . . James Moran of Frisco, Colo., surprised Olympic champion Edgar Grosporin by outscoring the Frenchman and winning the men’s mogul event. . . . Jean-Claude Killy, 49, who won three Olympic Alpine skiing gold medals in 1968 and was co-president of the 1992 Winter Games at Albertville, was honored this week as a Commander of the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterand.

The U.S. Pro Ski Tour makes its sixth stop of the season this weekend at Heavenly Valley, where the giant slalom will be held at 11 a.m. today, a celebrity pro-am at 11 a.m. Saturday and the slalom at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. . . . Austrian Bernhard Knauss, who has earned nearly $1 million in his five years on the circuit, leads the field again with 244 points, 49 more than second-place Ove Nygren of Norway. . . . After Heavenly, Knauss & Co. will race at Snow Summit, in Big Bear, Jan. 28-31. . . . The Women’s Pro Ski Tour, which is at Mt. Sunapee, N.H., this weekend, comes to Squaw Valley Feb. 19-21.

Vail is playing host to the 20th-anniversary Summit of the National Brotherhood of Skiers this week. The NBS is an organization of predominantly black ski clubs from around the country that promotes winter sports among minorities and offers scholarships for potential Olympic-caliber minority skiers. . . . The third annual Taos Winter Wine Festival is in full-bodied swing this weekend at the New Mexico resort. . . . New in the book stalls: “Right on the Edge of Crazy--On Tour With the U.S. Downhill Ski Team,” by Miami Herald staff writer Mike Wilson, who traveled with the American racers from December, 1990, through the 1992 Winter Olympics last February.