Season winding down, but still plenty of activity

Heavenly winds it up with a two-day party Saturday and Sunday celebrating the end of the 2005-06 season.

"While the snowpack at Heavenly remains solid, skier interest drops off significantly," said Blaise Carrig, Heavenly boss. He's right. Last Tuesday the parking lot at Cal base was only half full and the lifts ran mostly empty.

Heavenly's California and Stagecoach lodges stay open through the weekend. There's to be an end-of-season, "thank-you celebration," featuring live bands, discounted lunch specials for passholders, lots of prizes and give-aways and $30 lift tickets.

All lifts and facilities will close on Sunday until Memorial Day weekend, when guests can enjoy three days of Gondola-accessed sightseeing. Summer operations are scheduled to begin June 14.

Call (800) HEAVENLY for details about the weekend.

ONE MORE EVENT

Lake Tahoe's Sparks Sick & Twisted Big Air Festival is bringing a day of slopestyle entertainment and $5,000 in cash and prizes to Squaw Valley Saturday.

Snowbomb's Chris Bouman promises that, "This should be one of our biggest events of the season. With big cash, big prizes plus tons of spring snow, this is going to be a great day at Squaw."

The Squaw Valley slopestyle event, presented by SnowBomb and Line Skis, is open to amateur and professional skiers and snowboarders. The competition is in the Ford Freestyle Terrain Park on Squaw's upper mountain between the Siberia and Gold Coast lifts.

Registration is at the Olympic House near Dave's Deli from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on race day. Practice is from 10 to 11:45 a.m. with the competition action from noon to 2:30 p.m. Awards are at Le Chamois at 3:30 with a Sparks after party. Registration is $25 and discount lift tickets are available to competitors. All competitors under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian sign a liability release form at registration. Helmets are mandatory.

ONE MORE MORE EVENT

Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort will finish the season hosting the inaugural Xbox 360 Collegiate Snowboarding Open Championships Saturday and Sunday. This halfpipe competition is open to all riders who have been full-time college students in the past nine months.

Snowboarders register for the halfpipe event at www.thecollegiatenationals.com. Qualifiers are Saturday and on Sunday top qualifiers will battle it out in the halfpipe for the first-ever Collegiate National Snowboarding Open Championship title. Prizes include head-to-toe Burton setups, Xbox 360 consoles, loads of Xbox games and other collegiate merchandise. Sponsors are donating more than $10,000 worth of prizes.

Competitors can check in for the event at the Events office in the Northstar Village from 8 to 10 a.m. Practice will be held from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by a brief competitor meeting at superpipe. The event begins at 11 a.m. at Northstar's superpipe on Pipeline off the Vista Express chairlift.

The event is free to all participants and entry includes a free lunch and a T-shirt.

CSTV, the leading digital sports media company and part of the CBS Corporation, will air the championships May 4 at 9 p.m.

Call (800) GO-NORTH.

ONE MORE MORE MORE EVENT

Boreal Mountain Resort's all-mountain terrain park host's the west's top snowmobile racers Saturday and Sunday.

Western Snowmobile Racing's (WSR) tour stop at Boreal Mountain Resort will include daily freestyle and big-air exhibition shows, drag racing, and snowmobile cross racing.

The latest in Polaris, Arctic Cat, Bombardier, Yamaha, and Ski-doo sleds will be ridden by the top pros in the weekend's competition, and the Artic Cat 2007 fleet will be available to the public to test ride.

Every class or category (including Pro, Semi-pro, Women, Open, Junior, and Champion (ages 6-12) will compete at what WSR has deemed the largest snowmobile event to ever be hosted in the state of California.

All those interested in competing must join WSR. Membership benefits, fees, and rules are available at the Western Snowmobile Racing Web site. For spectators, both Saturday and Sunday will be full days. General admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Call Western Snowmobile Racing at (530) 363-0591 or visit www.wsrracing.com.

YET ANOTHER EVENT

Squaw Valley is bringing back its Spring Schwing Sunday. Golf and snow enthusiasts alike can take part in this on-snow golf tournament and show all the diehard Squaw shredders that it don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing.

The tournament takes place on High Camp's five-hole course. The game will be played in "best ball" format, using tennis balls (participants are asked to bring their own clubs and tennis balls). Teams of 2 will go head-to-head for the best cumulative score. The winning team will win rounds of golf at Wolf Run Golf Club and the Incline Village Mountain Course. Also, any player who gets a hole-in-one on the fifth hole will receive a mystery prize.

Registration will be in the Cable Car lobby at 9 a.m. Sunday and tee time will be at 10 a.m. sharp. The Spring Schwing Tournament is free with the purchase of a Cable Car or lift ticket and is $5 for passholders. Vintage "Caddyshack" attire is sincerely encouraged.

Call (530) 583-6985 or visit www.squaw.com.