Rising to the Occasion

A white Christmas?

A week ago, local ski resort operators were only dreaming of one. Not only was there no natural snow, mild temperatures did not enable adequate snow-making operations for about two weeks and shallow base depths were getting shallower by the day.

But temperatures plunged early this week, followed by forecasts for the season’s first winter storm in the Southland.

The storm never materialized here, but operators of the four resorts that are open say they are no longer dreaming and, in fact, will offer some pretty good skiing and boarding during the holidays.

“We got a little dusting [from the storm], but the good thing is that the temperatures have really dropped so we have been able to make snow,” said Genevieve Gunnarson, spokeswoman for Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake. “We started Sunday at midnight and then again Monday at 6 p.m., and the machines have been going around the clock since.”

Snow Summit’s base is 12-24 inches with a surface of mostly machine-groomed packed powder. The resort has 10 runs--all beginner and intermediate-- and three freestyle parks open, serviced by seven chairs.

“Of course, when the natural snow comes we’re hoping to get a ton of it so we can open everything,” Gunnarson added. “But meanwhile, we’ll take the cold temperatures because it’s better than what we had.”

Nearby Big Bear Mountain and Snow Valley report similar coverage and conditions.

In the San Gabriel Mountains, Mountain High in Wrightwood has benefited immensely from the cold snap and features a base of 18-24 inches of packed and hard-packed powder. The resort has four lifts and two terrain parks open.

As for operators of the smaller ski areas that are totally at the mercy of Mother Nature, they’re dreams are fast becoming nightmares.

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Blizzards and bluster: On the eastern slopes of the Sierra, Mammoth Mountain was smacked this week by two storms, which left a foot of powder so light that “when you close your car door it all falls off,” said Joani Saari, spokeswoman for the sprawling resort.

Trouble is, strong winds whipped up Thursday and blew some of it away and closed the lifts servicing the top of the mountain. Still, while Mammoth had only eight of 30 lifts open Thursday, it could have as many as 21 operating Saturday.

Mammoth is hosting the first stop of this season’s Ford Downhill Series, which runs through Sunday. Former Olympic gold medalist Tommy Moe is again teaming with Kyle Rasmussen for the United States.

Moe was sidelined much of last season because of a knee injury, and Rasmussen went on to claim the individual championship. The French team of Jean Luc Cretier and David Pretot will defend its team championship. Also competing are Italy, Switzerland and Canada.

Barring more winds, which hampered training runs Thursday, the racers will be treating spectators to runs of up to 90 mph down the Cornice Bowl.

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No squawking in Tahoe: The entire Lake Tahoe region will be glistening a bright white, come Christmas day, thanks to two major storms that swept through this week.

“As of 6 a.m. we had received 10-12 inches of new snow and it’s still snowing now,” Josh Beresford, a spokesman for Squaw Valley USA, said Thursday morning.

Squaw’s base was 40 inches and growing, and Beresford said the mountain will be nearly fully operational Saturday. “This makes the Christmas holiday season look very good to us,” he said.

On the other side of the lake, at Heavenly Ski Resort on the south shore, the big news is the Dec. 21 opening of a new gondola that will give hotel guests on the strip in Stateline, Nev., access to the mountain without having to drive or take a shuttle to the main lodge.

“It’s part of a plan to give the south shore more of an Alpine village atmosphere,” said Kristen Aggers, spokeswoman for the resort. Ribbon-cutting is at 10:30 a.m. and fireworks are at 6:30 p.m.

What holiday-period skiers and boarders will also have, aside from a spectacular view of the lake, is top-to-bottom skiing on both the California and Nevada sides of the mountain.

This week’s storm boosted the base to about three feet and more snow is forecast next week.

HOT BITES

* Something to crow about: A 311-pound yellowfin tuna caught at the Revillagigedo Islands aboard the Red Rooster III puts Ben Kita of Los Angeles in a league of his own. Kita, 51, reportedly is the first person to catch four yellowfin over the magical 300-pound mark.

“The other three big fish I caught were all on the Red Rooster, and they were 358, 323 and 307 pounds,” Kita told Bill Roecker of the San Diego Sportfishing Council.

Kita’s 311-pound tuna is the first 300-pounder of the 2000-01 season.

* Sand dabbing: They aren’t big and they don’t put up much of a fight, but they are plentiful and they’re biting like mad. They are sand dabs and Don Ashley, owner of Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, was sampling some when a call was placed to his office inquiring about his sand dab specials, which run Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

“We just deep-fried them and they’re excellent,” he said, “but I think it’s just the batter, like anything else that’s deep-fried.”

Actually, sauteed sand dabs are a popular dish in fine restaurants throughout the Southland and while Joe Fisherman might not know how to prepare the tiny flatfish as tastefully as gourmet chefs, he might have plenty of them to practice with. Eight passengers aboard the Pierpoint on Wednesday caught 1,386 sand dabs, weighing about eight ounces apiece and measuring 10 to 14 inches.

* Moon over marlin: It’s an eagerly awaited phenomenon, when striped marlin that gather by the thousands early each winter in the remote Magdalena Bay region of Baja California filter down to within reach of the Cabo San Lucas fleet.

It plays out different each year and some years it hardly plays out at all. As for this year, “This is the best December that I’ve seen in a long time, probably seven years,” said Tracy Ehrenberg, owner of Pisces Sportfishing at Land’s End.

“There was a bit of a slow-down [last] weekend, as we had such a large and bright moon, meaning the fish were feeding at night.”

But the moon is no longer full, the stripers have resumed their regular feeding habits and once again it’s a common sight to see one greyhounding atop the ocean with somebody’s hook in its mouth.

Pisces anglers caught 100 marlin in a week’s time, ending last Friday, releasing 97. The numbers were down slightly this week.

FRENZIED BEHAVIOR

A fatal shark attack last month off Perth in Western Australia created a hysteria that only now is subsiding.

The savage assault, believed to have been by a 15-foot great white, victimized a 48-year-old man in waist-deep water as he was emerging from a morning swim. The shark severed the victim’s leg, causing him to bleed to death, then turned on another swimmer, who suffered leg and foot injuries but was able to make it ashore.

The strange circumstances--great whites generally do not venture into extreme shallows, nor do they attack with such abandon--prompted a call for revenge and inspired a shark hunt that was endorsed by the state, despite federal protection of the species.

This, in turn, brought an outcry from conservationists, claiming that this was simply an aberration not likely to recur.

One of those speaking out most adamantly was Peter Benchley, author of “Jaws,” the best-selling novel that turned into a blockbuster movie portraying white sharks as cold-blooded man-eaters and featuring this very scenario.

Benchley, who has expressed regrets about falsely stereotyping sharks, said in a letter to Western Australia’s largest newspaper: “This was not a rogue shark, tantalized by the taste of human flesh and bound to kill and kill again. I plead with the people of Australia to refrain from slaughtering this magnificent ocean predator in the hope of achieving some catharsis, some fleeting satisfaction, from wreaking vengeance on one of nature’s most exquisite creations.”

The hunt proved unsuccessful, and when Perth’s North Cottesloe beach recently reopened, 200 showed for a confidence-boosting community swim.

Just when everyone thought it was safe to go back in the water, however, a large object was spotted moving through the water. The swim was postponed until the beast could be identified. To everyone’s relief, it was merely a large seal.

WINDING UP

The opening ceremony for Quiksilver’s annual “Men Who Ride Mountains” surfing contest was held last weekend at Half Moon Bay, officially opening the window for an event that can be called between now and the end of March.

Frank Quirarte, publisher of the contest site https://www.mavsurfer.com, described the ceremony: “Contestants gathered at Maverick’s point along with friends and family to inaugurate the contest with the traditional lineup of the Hellmen. Then, the paddle-out into the forebay to join hands in a circle of solidarity as watermen and women to reflect on friendships, achievements and just the true spirit and fun of the event.”

The fun will be replaced by seriousness when tournament director Jeff Clark signals a green light, giving the contestants as little as 24 hours to make the trek and to think about the towering “bombs” the surf spot has become notorious for.

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FISH, SKI REPORT: D11