The Snows of Spring

The rustle of spring to a growing horde of enthusiasts is the sound of skis knifing through good corn snow. Spring skiing is the latest--and many say the greatest--form of snow fun, and it is bringing out a new breed of bum and bunny in Europe and the U.S.

At Mammoth Mountain, for instance, 11,034 ft. up in the Sierras and about 300 miles north of Los Angeles, 1,500 to 3,000 men, women and children will be schussing their weekends away at least until the Fourth of July (last year the skiing lasted well into August). And it is not only the men's straw hats and the girls' flowered bonnets, the Bermuda shorts, lederhosen, sawed-off jeans and occasional bathing suits that mark the difference between warm-weather skiers and the blizzard brand.

Soaking & Sipping. Winter skiers rise before dawn, bundle into long Johns, sweaters, parkas and mittens, stash away a high-calorie breakfast, and hit the slopes in a hurry to salvage every instant of scarce daylight, determined to get as much as they can out of the short day, the long drive and the considerable expense. But spring gelaendesprungers tend to take it easy, swinging onto the tows as the sun crosses the yardarm, basking in the long sun after lunch. Their siestas are prolonged because the midday snow is apt to be mushy, because spring snow is harder to ski, and because fewer skiers and longer hours mean more skiing and more fatigue. At Mammoth Mountain, this may lead to an added pleasure. Skiers tuck wine bottles under their arms, trek ten miles down the valley to Hot Creek, where 100DEG water from underground springs pours into a wide gulch. There they can loll the rest of the day away, soaking and sipping beneath snow-covered slopes.

Spring snow is usually corn--rough granules made by alternate melting and freezing--considered by many to provide the best combination of speed and maneuverability there is. "If I were taking a skiing vacation," says weather-leathered Dave McCoy, developer of Mammoth, "I'd take it in the spring. You're assured of longer days and better weather. It's a more leisurely time of year, and the snow is terrific."

Spring skiers are finding this out in increasing numbers from Alaska on down. They turned out in thousands last weekend around Lake Tahoe--at Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows and the Donner Pass. Mount Shasta, some 250 miles north of San Francisco, is one of the more popular areas, as are Mount Hood, near Portland, Ore., and Washington's Mount Baker.

Opium for the Classes. In the Alps, springtime marks the departure of the big names, the starlets, the jet-setters, the titles and the arrival of prosperous executives and professional men weekending from Paris. They make for glaciers accessible only by helicopters or small planes piloted by men specially trained to land and take off on the uncertain slopes high on the mountains' shoulders.

Here the vast white silence and un marked snow usually stun first-timers. "Once you've tried this form of opium," said a young lawyer at Courchevel last week, "you must come back for more. You're rather spoiled for the beaten slope. You know then that skiing the trails is just a form of training."

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