DEEP FREEZE\Area ski resorts set for throngs, CHP on alert.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Freezing temperatures and ice patches created treacherous freeway driving conditions along the Grapevine Monday, while local ski resort operators predicted snow would lure crowds to the mountains.

California Highway Patrol officers escorted convoys of cars through a high-elevation section of Interstate 5, between the tiny Los Angeles County mountain community of Gorman and Fort Tejon, in Kern County.

Officers reduced the traffic flow to about 30 mph because heavy fog had left moisture that turned to ice, creating a slick road surface, CHP officials said.

"There's some residual water on the roadway, and it's cold out there, and it's turning to ice," said Officer Wendy Moore of the CHP's Newhall station.

"About 3 o'clock, the air temperature was 32 degrees, with a 17 mph wind. It was real cold," added Lt. Dan Pankey of the CHP's Fort Tejon station. "It has been light snow off and on all day."

Pankey said state Department of Transportation crews had spread a chemical across freeway lanes that prevents ice and snow from freezing the road surface.

The inclement weather put people in a winter sports state of mind and boosted sales at Sports Chalet stores in La Canada Flintridge - on the way to the Angeles National Forest - and in Santa Clarita, approaching the Grapevine, said Bob Haueter, director of marketing for the 18-store chain.

Sales of tire chains, mittens, ski jackets, toboggans, sleds and snowboards were brisk as snow fell in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, he said. On Monday, stores received many calls from skiers reserving equipment rentals for the coming weekend, Haueter added.

"When (weather forecasters) start putting out winter storm warnings and chain requirements, our business picks up," Haueter said. "We live or die by the weather, so (the snow) is a welcome sight."

Despite the weekend storm, Mount Waterman didn't do any business Monday at its resort on Angeles Crest Highway, 34 miles northeast of La Canada Flintridge. "We received approximately six inches of new snow this morning. Unfortunately, it's not enough to open," the resort's phone message said Monday.

The news was better in Big Bear Lake, where Snow Summit sold 1,600 lift tickets to those hardy enough to brave daytime temperatures in the teens and 20s on the slopes, said Bonnie Tregaskis, a spokeswoman for the 230-acre resort in the San Bernardino National Forest.

This latest storm dumped more than 14 inches of snow in the region, she said.

"We didn't have a huge crowd, because (the CHP) was requiring chains all day, even on four-wheel-drive cars. That always scares some people away," Tregaskis said. "We had some pretty heavy snow flurries throughout the course of the day."

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Photo Banjo Morello pulls his daughter Dorosia Mary, 4, in a makeshift sled Monday in Frazier Park. Tina Gerson/Daily News