SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : Tomba Starting Anew, but Not Without Gripes
While skiers in California continue in a holding pattern, the season is under way in Colorado, where Alberto Tomba, Picabo Street and their World Cup chums have landed to compete in four races starting Thursday at Vail.
Tomba, the defending overall champion who turns 29 next month, skipped last Sunday’s opener at Tignes, France, in protest of a new International Skiing Federation (FIS) rule that he says will penalize him and other leading racers. As a result, Switzerland’s Michael Von Gruenigen edged Norway’s Lasse Kjus by 0.04 of a second in the giant slalom to take an early lead in the men’s standings.
At Vail, Tomba will ski the slalom and giant slalom, both two-run events affected by the recent FIS action that gives officials the option of reversing the starting order of the top 30 first-run finishers for a race’s second run, rather than the traditional top 15.
“You can hardly find a track which does not deteriorate after 10 to 15 skiers come down,” the outspoken Italian says. “The [leader] of the first run would be handicapped by starting 30th.”
Nevertheless, Tomba can’t sit out too many more races and hope to retain the World Cup title he won last season with 1,150 points, 375 more than runner-up Guenther Mader of Austria. After hinting at retirement, Tomba decided to return for at least one more crack at a medal in the biennial World Alpine Skiing Championships, which were postponed a year because of poor snow conditions. They will try again Feb. 11-25 at Sierra Nevada, Spain.
The women’s champion, Vreni Schneider of Switzerland, did retire last spring, at 31, after barely outlasting Katja Seizinger of Germany, 1,248 points to 1,242, for her third overall title. Seizinger is back for another shot, as is Street, the free-spirited American who won six downhills last winter. They will race in a super-G at Vail, where a women’s slalom is also scheduled.
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Mammoth Mountain, which ended its 1994-95 season on Aug. 13, reopened last Friday, less than three months later, with chairlift No. 1 serving the Broadway run covered by 12 to 24 inches of man-made snow.
It was a nice try, but the Eastern Sierra resort will close again today, pending colder temperatures, a snowstorm or both.
Farther north, along Interstate-80 at Donner Summit, Boreal plans to reopen some runs this weekend.
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In the Southland, skiers and snowboarders can get a foretaste of their favorite sport at Ski Dazzle ‘95, which begins a four-day run Thursday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Show hours are 4-11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
Or there’s “Endless Winter,” Warren Miller’s latest film, which will be screened Thursday at Fullerton High’s Plummer Auditorium, Friday and Saturday at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Monday at Laguna Beach Playhouse and Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Show time is 8 p.m., except Saturday at 6 and 9 p.m.
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Skiing Notes
Vail, with a reported base of 16-30 inches, is one of seven major Colorado resorts already operating. The others are Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Loveland, Winter Park and Crested Butte. Beaver Creek plans to open Saturday. . . . Brian Head has begun limited operation in Southern Utah. . . . World Cup racing will continue in North America for the men at Park City, Utah, Nov. 25-26, and again at Vail, Dec. 1-2, and for the women in Canada, at Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec, Nov. 25-26, and Lake Louise, Alberta, Dec. 2-3.