Winter’s Early Arrival Beats Show to Punch

It’s the same just about every fall: Warren Miller’s latest film hits the Southland in early November, Ski Dazzle continues to put everyone in a snowy mode and finally, if we’re lucky, the season actually arrives along about Thanksgiving.

This year, however, winter got the jump on both Miller and the ski show.

Snow Summit and Bear Mountain opened the first of this month; Mammoth Mountain joined them a week later; Snow Valley got going Sunday, and most of the major resorts in the Sierra will probably swing into operation this weekend.

What’s more, the World Cup racing calendar has already started turning its pages. The first giant slaloms were held in late October on the glacier at Soelden, Austria, and four days of racing will get underway Thursday at Park City, Utah, with slaloms and giant slaloms for both men and women.

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Here’s the situation in the San Bernardino mountains, where all-day adult lift-tickets for skiers and snowboarders have been reduced temporarily to $25:

--Snow Summit, with a base of about 18 inches, is running its East-Mountain Xpress quad chairlift for intermediate and advanced skiing top to bottom on Miracle Mile and on the upper two-thirds of Summit.

--Bear Mountain, reporting depths of up to 36 inches, offers four runs served by two lifts.

--Snow Valley has three runs open, along with its new skate park.

At Wrightwood, Mountain High tentatively plans a Friday opening.

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Mammoth Mountain has probably benefited the most from the early-season storms and favorable snow-making temperatures. After picking up 24 inches of powder last weekend, Dave McCoy’s complex in the Eastern Sierra has 30 to 48 inches on its slopes and is operating Chairlifts 1, 2, 3 and 27 plus Gondolas 1 and 2 from the Main Lodge.

More lifts will be added to the mix as necessary, along with the Canyon Lodge.

After ending last season on July 7, Mammoth expanded its snow-making capability and revamped the rental shop, which now stocks only the new “shaped” skis.

Farther north, Alpine Meadows and Boreal have already started up, and Squaw Valley, Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sugar Bowl are aiming for Saturday. Then, Thanksgiving Day is the target for Bear Valley, Kirkwood, Ski Homewood, Soda Springs and Tahoe Donner. Heavenly is on a day-to-day basis.

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Down in the lowlands, Ski Dazzle opens a four-day run Thursday at the L.A. Convention Center with its customary assortment of exhibits ranging from travel to the latest gear, plus entertainment. Show hours are 4 to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

And “Snowriders,” the new Warren Miller film, will be shown tonight at 8 at Riverside Municipal Auditorium, Thursday at 8 p.m. at Fullerton High School, Saturday at 2, 6 and 9 p.m. at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

Skiing Notes

Defending overall champion Katja Seizinger of Germany and Steve Locher of Switzerland took the early lead in the Alpine World Cup standings by winning the season openers. . . . Neither America’s Picabo Street nor Italy’s Alberto Tomba will be at Park City this weekend. Street will wait until the downhill and super-G at Lake Louise, Canada, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, and Tomba, who is recovering from training injuries, won’t compete until the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, on Dec. 17. . . . Mammoth Mountain will play host to World Cup women’s slalom and super-G races March 6-7.

Brian Head, Brighton and Solitude are also operating in Utah, and Alta and Snowbird are planning to open Saturday. . . . In Colorado, Vail, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone, Loveland, Steamboat, Crested Butte and Purgatory have already begun, with Beaver Creek and Aspen due to join them this weekend, followed by Snowmass on Nov. 28. . . . Mt. Bachelor, near Bend, Ore., opened Oct. 27 and has a base of 36-46 inches. . . . Sun Valley, Idaho, is set to go next Wednesday.