SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : Storms Make Conditions Ideal in Sierra

For skiers, it was a perfectly timed gift.

Arriving on Christmas Eve and continuing into the next day, the first of a series of Pacific storms added just the right layer of powder for the holiday rush to the mountains of California. Then, in midweek, more snow arrived, keeping conditions ideal.

From Big Bear to Mammoth Lakes to Lake Tahoe’s great white north, the hills are alive with the sound of skis hissing down slopes covered by the deepest early winter snowpack in several decades.

Mammoth Mountain picked up 14 inches of snow over the weekend and six more Wednesday, boosting its total past 100. Nearby June Mountain, also owned by Dave McCoy, is reporting up to 52 inches.

“The skiing is really spectacular,” Mammoth spokeswoman Pam Murphy said. “This is shaping up as one of our biggest weeks ever. We’ve even been getting a lot of calls from skiers who had planned to go to Colorado, trying to make room reservations here. Unfortunately, the town is about 99% booked.”

Elsewhere throughout the Sierra, the storms boosted depths to new heights, so to speak--156 inches at Kirkwood, 132 at Sugar Bowl, 125 at Alpine Meadows, 120 at Squaw Valley and 102 at Heavenly, to cite a few of the more notable measurements.

Five to 10 inches fell last weekend in the Southland mountains, where Ski Sunrise and Kratka Ridge both opened on a limited basis Monday, joining Mt. Baldy, Mountain High, Snow Valley, Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, all of which are in full operation.

At Snow Summit, which has up to 40 inches on its slopes, spokeswoman Bonnie Tregaskis said: “We’ve been selling out of lift tickets as early as 8:30 a.m. this week, and it looks like it’s going to be that way clear through the weekend--although tickets are still presently available for each day.”

Ski Sunrise, near Wrightwood, is running its quad chairlift and two surface lifts at a reduced rate of $22.

Kratka Ridge, somewhat closer to downtown L.A., has up to 14 inches covering its beginners’ area, with three lifts operating at a discounted $15.

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After a brief holiday break, World Cup competition will resume with a women’s slalom today at Meribel, France. However, a persistent scarcity of snow has forced cancellation of a men’s giant slalom that had been scheduled there Thursday.

Alberto Tomba of Italy, who already has piled up 550 points, holds a substantial lead over his closest pursuers in the men’s standings. With Michael Von Gruenigen sidelined because of a dislocated shoulder, defending champion Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway has moved into second place at 302, eight more than the Swiss racer.

Heidi Zeller-Baehler of Switzerland tops the women’s division with 485 points, 99 more than teammate Vreni Schneider.

So far, Americans have performed well in the speed events--the downhill and super-giant slalom--while exhibiting a chronic inability to make efficient, high-velocity turns with any regularity in the slalom and giant slalom.

Eva Twardokens of Santa Cruz provided about the only glimmer of hope for the U.S. technical contingent when she finished fifth in a giant slalom last week at Alta Badia, Italy.

Skiing Notes

The three finalists for the 13th annual AT&T; Skiing Award are Diana Golden, Olympic disabled skiing gold medalist; Phil Mahre, Olympic slalom gold medalist and three-time World Cup champion, and John Fry, editor-in-chief of Snow Country magazine and a former editor of Ski magazine. The winner of the award, given annually to an individual “whose commitment to excellence and dedication to skiing have profoundly enriched the sport,” will be announced shortly before its presentation on March 2 at Aspen, Colo.

California stops on the 1995 Jimmie Heuga’s Ski Express will be Snow Summit on March 19 and Squaw Valley on March 26. The event, open to all skiers, is designed to raise money for the Jimmie Heuga Center, a nonprofit, scientific research organization dedicated to “reanimating the physically challenged” at Avon, Colo. Tamara McKinney, a former World Cup champion, and Doug Lewis, downhill bronze medalist in the 1985 World Alpine Championships, are the national spokespersons for the Ski Express, which begins Jan. 8 and continues through the finals at Vail, Colo., April 5-9.

Three California resorts have been honored for environmental activities by the Skiing Company, which publishes Ski and Skiing magazines. Heavenly, Sierra at Tahoe and Sugar Bowl are among 14 finalists for the Silver Eagle Awards to be presented at the National Ski Areas Assn.’s annual meeting May 5-8 at Palm Springs.