Plenty of stuff going on at local resorts

The Jeep King of the Mountain Ski and Snowboard race wound up Sunday at Squaw Valley on the Gold Coast run amid howling winds that knocked spectators flying.

The event featured 32 of the world's top racers, including nine athletes that had participated in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

They included Daron Rahlves, Graham Watanabe and Nate Holland of the U.S., Jasey Jay Anderson of Canada, and Austrians Doresia Krings, Manuela Riegler, Dieter Krassnig and Lukas Gruner.

The individual event title winners from Squaw Valley included:

Men's Snowboard, Jasey Jay Anderson, Canada; Women's Snowboard, Doresia Krings, Austria; Men's Ski, Casey Puckett, Aspen, Colo.; Women's Ski, Ophelie David, France.

The overall season-long titles were won by Men's Snowboard, Graham Watanabe, Salt Lake City, Utah; Women's Snowboard, Doresia Krings; Men's Ski, Casey Puckett; Women's Ski, Ophelie David.

The races will air on CBS Sports on March 25 from 1 to 2 p.m. and on nationally syndicated television across the U.S. between March 13 and April 2.

INCLINE Dummies will take over the slopes at Diamond Peak Saturday March 11 for the Sixth Annual Dummy Downhill.

Participants build a dummy on skis or snowboards that will be launched off a huge jump. Prizes will be awarded in many different categories, including most creative dummy and best crash. Those who enter a dummy will receive a free commemorative T-shirt and can purchase a lift ticket to ski for the day for only $15 (limit 4 per dummy).

The Dummy Downhill is open to the public and there are no registration fees. Dummies need to be at the base lodge by 11 a.m. to be judged on creativity. The jumping will begin at noon. An award ceremony will follow along with live music.

Dummy builders are encouraged to be as creative as they can. These restrictions apply: They can not be live, must not weigh more than 75 pounds. Teams that build their dummies to lose parts as they crash will be required to clean up afterward.

Call 832-1177 or visit diamondpeak.com.

NEW TERRAIN PARK

In an effort to constantly evolve its nationally-ranked parks and pipes, Northstar is introducing a new series of freestyle features this season.

The fourth feature being added to Northstar's parks is a giant trapezoid box sponsored by Dragon Optics.

The Dragon trapezoid box can be found in the park located on Moonshine, off of the Vista Express chairlift. It is 20 feet long at the base, 8 feet long at the top and 7 feet wide.

ALPINE MEADOWS

Terrain park jibbers are enjoying the continuation of the Alpine Meadows Sundays In The Park Jam Series. This is the Tahoe area's newest terrain park contest and takes place every other Sunday.

Last Sunday took place on a 25-foot down rail. Competitors and terrain park managers opted for the fluorescent green low-to-the-ground feature due to the fact that the approaching snow storm arrived early, and winds began to increase.

The winner of last weekend's event was Bob Starks of Tahoe City, performing a triple axel to a double Lutz jump combination.

Awards will be given to first, second, and third place for each jam session. Awards for best trick will also be given each week. Call (530) 581-8272.

LIFT TICKETS DEALS

Northstar-at-Tahoe and Sierra-at-Tahoe are offering direct-to-lift ticket cards sold at select Northern California and Northern Nevada Safeway stores and gas stations. Sierra-at-Tahoe's Safeway direct-to-lift ticket card is offered for a single day and is valid for any day of the season. Cost is $49 at select Safeway stores, a $10 savings off the daily lift ticket price. Northstar guests have the opportunity to purchase a two-out-of-three-day direct-to-lift ticket card for $104, this card offers guests a savings of $22.

For a list of participating Safeway stores, visit www.NorthstarAtTahoe.com or call 1-800-GO-NORTH.

SNOW FESTIVAL AT Squaw Valley kicks off North Lake Tahoe's Snow Festival for the 25th year today with the first celebration of the week, the Opening Ceremonies. The annual event features a torchlight parade, fireworks, a laser light show, and opening night parties at Plaza Bar, Bar One, and Zenbu in Olympic House.

The celebration begins at dusk on Squaw's lower mountain as members of the Squaw Valley Ski School descend the slopes of KT-22/Exhibition in a torchlight parade complemented by a laser light presentation and followed by a fireworks show.

The Snow Festival runs through March 12. Call (530) 583-7167.

Also at Squaw, a freestyle skiing competition. Today Squaw will host the freestyle competition for the Reno Tahoe Freeheel Open.

From 11-1 p.m. there will be a Big Air competition in Squaw's Mainline Park. Ski down to the base of the mountain for a Rail Jam from 3-5 p.m. for freeheel jibbing racing. The scores from the two competitions will be weighted equally and added together to give us a freestyle champion.

All the industry reps will be at the base all day long ready to cut you loose with the latest gear out there.

HEAVENLY WORLD

Heavenly announced that this year's spring calendar is packed with rail jams, live music, nighttime bar promotions and pub crawls, South Shore Soldiers Camps, appearances by the Heavenly Angels, restaurant specials, and classic events such as Glen Plake's Gunbarrel 50 and Pond Skimming!

Spring Loaded '06 kicks off March 13 with the first of three sessions of the South Shore Soldiers Ski and Snowboard Camp at High Roller California Terrain Park followed by an all-hours party with the Heavenly Angels at Nero's nightclub in Caesar's. Veteran professional snowboarder and Tahoe local Jimmy Halopoff dedicated this camp, the top ski and snowboard school in North America (according to Skiing Magazine), to providing an exciting on-hill environment where the "soldiers" get personalized instruction from top pros and coaches in the private Soldiers Terrain Park.

Heavenly's unique Jackpot Rail Jams provide the perfect opportunity to apply the skills learned at the Soldiers' Camp and vie for a share of $1,000 cash prizes awarded for tricks evaluated by judges.

Non-competitors can log freestyle overtime on the boxes, rails and jumps at the High Roller Nightlife Terrain Park Thursday through Saturday nights, 5 to 9 p.m.

Hard-core mogul maniacs are invited to challenge freestyle star local Glen Plake in his annual Gunbarrel 50 competition on April 1. This marathon event dares entrants to complete 50 laps over 1,800 feet of vertical on Heavenly's Gunbarrel run (that's 90,000 vertical feet of moguls). For a modified, yet still respectable challenge, the Gunbarrel 25 will also kick off later that same day. Winners for time and endurance in each competition will be rewarded with commemorative belt buckles and pins, names engraved on the shotgun trophy displayed in the California Lodge.

Spring Loaded '06 concludes April 8 with classic fun-in-the-sun at the annual Pond Skimming Championships. Costumes are recommended and style is required as gutsy participants attempt to ski or snowboard across a pond of slushy, frigid water.

SUPERPIPE AT NORTHSTAR

The second annual Vans Cup at Tahoe is set to draw the world's best snowboarders, including Olympians Shaun White, Danny Kass, Mason Aguirre, Hannah Teter, Elena Hight, Gretchen Bleiler and Doriane Vidal, to Northstar-at-Tahoe today through Sunday. The contingent include luminaries such as Antti Autti, Andreas Wiig and Tara Dakides and a total prize purse of more than $200,000. The Vans Cup at Tahoe will air on Fox Sports Net in two parts at 3 p.m. March 11 and March 18.

The weekend kicks off tonight with Wyatt Caldwell, last year's big winner with titles in both Rail and Slopestyle, taking on all comers under the lights in a Rail jam session. Action continues Saturday with the Slopestyle comp and caps off on Sunday with Superpipe.

Those without lift tickets can receive a free gondola ticket thanks to Tylenol. The events:

Today 5:30 to 80 p.m., Rail Jam.; Saturday 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Men's and Women's Slopestyle Qualifying; noon to 3 p.m. Men's and Women's Slopestyle finals; Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Men's and Women's Superpipe Qualifying; 1 to 3:30 p.m., Men's and Women's Superpipe finals.