Stopping Wiberg a Mammoth Task

Barring an avalanche or other natural disaster, expect to see a new overall women’s World Cup ski champion in the next two days at Mammoth Mountain.

If Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden can keep from tripping over her Rossignols, she will replace second-place Katja Seizinger, last year’s champion, atop the Alpine world.

Wiberg’s lead over Seizinger is such that the German would have to virtually win all of the remaining six Cup races--a super-giant slalom today and a slalom Friday at Mammoth, and four events at the World Cup Finals at Vail, Colo., March 12-16--even to have a hope of retaining her title.

Wiberg, 26, has six victories on the World Cup circuit this season and can also assure herself of the World Cup slalom title over surprising Claudia Riegler of New Zealand with a strong finish Friday.

Also today, Hilary Lindh of Juneau, Alaska, returns to home snow after turning around a season that started so poorly, there was a good chance it would have been the last for the 27-year-old veteran. Her season reached a crescendo last month with her downhill victory in the World Alpine Ski Championships at Sestriere, Italy.

She followed that with second- and 10th-place finishes in downhills at Nagano, Japan, site of next year’s Winter Olympics.

Hounded all season about her plans, she still won’t say whether she’ll return for another World Cup season and the Olympics, but recent success hasn’t made the decision any easier.

“It can’t get any more complicated,” she said.

Wiberg, Riegler and Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni--who won the slalom and giant slalom in the World Championships--head Friday’s field. But 22-year-old Tasha Nelson of Mound, Minn., in her first year on the World Cup circuit, is hoping for a top-10 finish to qualify for next week’s finals.

“I’m going to do it,” she said.