Season Finally Springs Forward

After a false start last month, spring skiing has truly arrived in the mountains of California, and the timing couldn’t be better.

In the Southland, there’s more than adequate snow for at least the next couple of weeks through Easter, meaning skiers and snowboarders should be able to take full advantage of the various spring break periods--and pick up a partial suntan along the way.

Special events are scheduled at almost every resort from Big Bear to Mt. Baldy, as follows:

--Bear Mountain will stage Spring Break VIII, starting today and continuing through March 31, with a program that includes pond-skimming, Big Bear air jumps, winter beach volleyball and an ugly sunglasses contest.

--Snow Summit will play host to the Chevy Geo Challenge, a carnival-type series of fun and games, today through Sunday, then go all out with Springfest ’96 from March 30 through April 7.

--Snow Valley will also be swinging with happenings such as the Coors Cutter volleyball matches this weekend and the Surfin’ Peak Beach Party April 5-7.

--Mountain High will conduct the “Battle of the Boards,” a snowboarding competition, on Saturday as a start to its observance of the season.

It’s a similar situation in the High Sierra, where spring conditions prevail and most runs are covered by more than 100 inches of snow, enough to carry the season into May--or in the case of Mammoth Mountain, July.

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The Freestyle World Cup concludes this weekend at Meiringen, Switzerland, where marginal snow conditions have caused the cancellation of aerials competition.

With defending champions Trace Worthington and Nikki Stone out because of injuries and Kris Feddersen a midseason retiree, the aerials titles went to Sebastien Foucras of France and Colette Brand of Switzerland. Eric Bergoust, who won the finale last weekend at Altenmarkt, Austria, tried to keep the men’s championship in the United States, but got a late start this winter while recovering from a back injury.

Except for Jonny Moseley, the American moguls and acro (ballet) skiers will skip the Swiss event, having returned home to compete in the U.S. Freestyle Championships in progress through Sunday at Snowbird, Utah.

Skiing Notes

Chad Fleischer of Vail, Colo., won the men’s downhill Thursday in the U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf, Maine, in 1 minute 23.03 seconds. Chris Puckett of Crested Butte, Colo., was second in 1:23.06 and Tommy Moe of Girdwood, Alaska, third in 1:23.26. The women’s race was postponed until today because of poor visibility in the morning. The men’s and women’s super-giant slaloms are scheduled for today, women’s giant slalom Saturday, men’s giant slalom Sunday and men’s and women’s slaloms Monday. . . . Manuela di Centa of Italy won the Nordic World Cup women’s cross-country title. . . . Andreas Goldberger of Austria finished fourth last weekend at Oslo to clinch his second consecutive World Cup jumping championship.

Julie Parisien, who retired early from the U.S. ski team after approaching stardom three years ago, is the new champion of the Women’s Pro Ski Tour, which ended last weekend at Wachusett Mountain, Mass. She finished with 255 points, 65 more than runner-up Andreja Rojs of Slovenia. American Heather Flood, who led until being sidelined by injuries with four races left, wound up third with 180. Hans Hofer has virtually clinched the men’s U.S. Pro Ski Tour title with 458 points, 56 more than his fellow Austrian, defending champion Bernhard Knauss. A weekend meet at Killington, Vt., and the U.S. Pro Championships March 28-31 at Aspen Highlands, Colo., remain on the schedule.

Jimmie Heuga’s Toyota Ski Express will visit Squaw Valley Sunday on its last stop before the national finals April 10-14 at Vail, Colo. . . . The U.S. Snowboard Championships will begin a six-day run Monday at June Mountain.