SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : It’s Early, but Slopes Belie It Across West

It’s almost like midwinter in the mountains of the Western United States, but more like midsummer in the Alps.

As a result, while skiers have been enjoying some of the best early season conditions in many years on slopes in Southern California, the Sierra, the Cascades and much of the Rockies, ski racers in Europe have been staring out their hotel windows at barren hillsides from Switzerland to Italy and into France.

The situation has become so critical that U.S. Skiing in Park City, Utah, site of last weekend’s World Cup women’s races, has offered to help relocate some of the December events in North America.

“We contacted the International Ski Federation (FIS) to advise that U.S. Skiing was able to coordinate sites for additional men’s events in the next few weeks,” U.S. Alpine Director Paul Major said Tuesday. “The FIS is very interested in the proposal and could make a decision in the next few days.”

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Snow is especially plentiful throughout California at the moment. Mammoth Mountain, for example, reported 66-90 inches Tuesday, and spokeswoman Mary Shoshone said, “The skiing has been terrific ever since we opened on Oct. 8.” That was the earliest starting date ever for Mammoth, where 95% of the mountain is now open--including Warming Hut II, which hadn’t been used for Thanksgiving in 11 years.

A storm late Friday and early Saturday cut into holiday crowds, but the resort 300 miles north of Los Angeles still played host to 29,000 skiers over the four-day weekend.

Getting a lot of play was Mammoth’s new high-speed quad chairlift that replaced the old No. 16.

In the Southland, Snow Summit, Bear Mountain, Snow Valley, Mountain High and Mt. Baldy are operating daily, with Ski Sunrise set to go Friday.

“Conditions are terrific, like mid-January,” Snow Summit spokeswoman Bonnie Tregaskis said. “The cold temperatures have been great for snowmaking, to go with the natural snow, and have produced really squeaky packed powder.”

Snow Summit’s new high-speed quad chairlift, the All Mountain Xpress, is already rolling, boosting skiers 1,200 vertical feet from the base area to the top of the mountain, and its new half-pipe provides snowboard riders twice the length of the old one.

Both Snow Summit, which opened on Nov. 11, and its Big Bear neighbor, Bear Mountain, have up to 36 inches of snow.

Bear Mountain, which started its season on Nov. 4, opened Geronimo Trail, its double-black-diamond run on Bear Peak, Tuesday, and according to spokeswoman Julie Grant, the new Terrain Garden is quickly becoming popular with both riders and skiers who dabble in freestyle acrobatics.

Snow Valley, which has been going since Nov. 12 and now has a 30-inch base, spent $1.5 million over the summer to cover Slide Peak, its most advanced area, with snowmaking gear. “Then, wouldn’t you know it, we got all this natural snow too,” spokeswoman Margi LaPorte said.

Over near Wrightwood, Mountain High’s west side has been operational since Nov. 11 with a base of up to 24 inches, and spokeswoman Tracy Henry said, “We have many more runs open than usual for so early in the season. We’re making snow on the east side and hope to have it ready in a few days, as well.”

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Lake Tahoe ski resorts have also been humming since early this month, with snow depths ranging generally from 36 to 84 inches, and Utah isn’t far behind.

There’s a 56-inch base at Park City, where Switzerland’s 30-year-old Vreni Schneider scored her 52nd World Cup victory in Sunday’s slalom after finishing third behind teammate Heidi Zeller-Baehler in a giant slalom the day before.

The women are scheduled to compete in a downhill and super-G this weekend at Vail, Colo., followed by a giant slalom at Breckenridge, Colo., Monday. They will then travel to Lake Louise, Canada, for another downhill and super-G on Dec. 10-11 before going to Europe.

The season-opening competitions for both men and women at Saas Fe, Switzerland, were canceled because of a lack of snow, as were men’s events last weekend at Sestriere, Italy, and this weekend at Val d’Isere, France. Three men’s races in Italy on Dec. 10-11-13 are also threatened.

Meanwhile, World Cup organizers are hoping that the higher altitude at Tignes, France, will let them hold a giant slalom and slalom Saturday and Sunday.

Major, whose U.S. women’s team placed only one racer in the top 30 last weekend--Heidi Voelker’s 27th Sunday--is eager to give his male skiers some additional home-snow advantage before their scheduled stops at Whistler, Canada, and Aspen, Colo., three months from now.

“We have had discussions on possible schedule (changes),” he said, “but there is nothing set. We hope to work together with the Canadian Ski Assn. in addition to (adding) U.S. sites.”