SKIING / BOB LOCHNER : Local Resorts Finally Reopen

Southland skiers are getting a big lift this week--quite a few big lifts, in fact.

Cutting it a bit close to the holidays, four ski areas in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains have opened for business, beating the start of winter by a matter of hours. As a result, there’s no need now to drive more than 300 miles to Mammoth Mountain or the additional 100 to Lake Tahoe . . . unless, of course, you want to.

Taking full advantage of temperatures in the 20s since last Thursday, Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, Snow Valley and Mountain High have been able to make enough snow to provide skiers--and snowboarders--with an adequate layer of packed powder close to home. A dusting from the sky also helped create base depths that range from 12 to 40 inches.

Here’s the rundown from Big Bear and Wrightwood:

--Bear Mountain, which opened Tuesday afternoon with free skiing, is operating its Big Bear Express quad and Inspiration triple chairlifts, providing 1,665 vertical feet, with a reduced all-day adult lift ticket of $32 in effect until more terrain and lifts are added.

--Snow Summit, with a temporary lift-ticket reduction to $30, is running both of its quads, the new East-Mountain Xpress and the All-Mountain Xpress, plus chairs No. 3 and 8. Top-to-bottom skiing is available on Summit Run and Miracle Mile.

--Snow Valley, where the lift ticket is $30 for a short time, has begun its season with chairs No. 1, 6 and 12, with more ready to go on line as conditions warrant.

--Mountain High, currently selling $25 lift tickets, is also offering summit-to-lodge skiing off four chairs.

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In the High Sierra, a string of Pacific storms and continued cold weather have enabled 20 resorts to begin operations, including all of the major ones.

With four to seven feet of snow, Mammoth is 95% open, nearby June Mountain 85%.

Farther north, conditions vary from Kirkwood at 100%, Northstar-at-Tahoe at 90% and Sierra-at-Tahoe at 75%, to Squaw Valley at 50%, Heavenly at 40% and Bear Valley at 30%. Alpine Meadows and Sugar Bowl aren’t giving percentages, but each reports two to four feet on its slopes, with eight lifts running.

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Lasse Kjus of Norway remains the World Cup overall men’s leader as competition resumes in Slovenia today, but Alexandra Meissnitzer of Austria has overtaken Katja Seizinger of Germany in the women’s standings.

After winning the super-giant slalom Wednesday at Veysonnaz, Switzerland, Meissnitzer has 448 points, 43 more than Seizinger. Picabo Street of the United States, who finished seventh, just ahead of teammate Shannon Nobis, is fifth overall with 328.

Kjus, with 640 points, is 240 in front of Swiss racer Michael Von Gruenigen. Alberto Tomba, the defending champion, is sixth with 256 after scoring his first victory of the season Tuesday--on his 29th birthday--in the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio in his native Italy.

Skiing Notes

The Jeep King of the Mountain Downhill Series, with former Olympic champions Franz Klammer, Leonhard Stock, Bill Johnson and Pirmin Zurbriggen racing again, will make two of its five stops in the Sierra--at Mammoth Mountain Jan. 30-Feb. 2 and at Heavenly Feb. 22-25. . . . American Donna Weinbrecht, 30, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1992, finished fourth and 16th in the season’s first two Freestyle World Cup moguls events at Tignes and La Plagne, France. . . . Troy Benson and Jim Moran, both from Colorado, placed 1-2 among the men at La Plagne. . . . Sierra Summit, above Fresno, has opened with an 18- to 24-inch base and four lifts going. . . . Sun Valley, Idaho, has received more snow and is running nine lifts on both sides of Baldy.