IN NEED OF A LIFT DESPITE RESORTS' SNOW-MAKING, WARM WEATHER SENDS SKI SALES ON DOWNHILL RUN; SKI INDUSTRY SWEATS OUT WARM WINTER.

Byline: Suzie St. John Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - At the sprawling Sportmart on Tampa Avenue, manager Paul Bertelsen has been sweating out an unseasonably warm and dry winter.

With the nearby mountains clinging to their brown autumn coat, Bertelsen is busily slashing the prices of his ski and snowboard equipment, a task that normally doesn't happen until late February.

Sportmart's ski sales have dipped 50 percent from last year while snowboard sales have slid 20 percent, he said.

``Snowboard sales have been outclassing ski sales for the last couple of years. Snowboarders are more diehard and they'll go no matter what the conditions are,'' Bertelsen explained.

He's got company.

Local ski shop sales have been melting under the warm winter glare of the Southern California sunshine.

Retailers reporting large drops in both sales and rentals of ski and snowboard equipment and don't expect future snowstorms to salvage what they are calling a bad year.

This season's minimal snowfall has hit the smaller shops specializing in rentals especially hard.

Performance Ski & Boards in Woodland Hills said business is down 50 percent from last year, and that wasn't a particularly good one, either.

``It's a year you just want to write off and get on with it,'' said Gary Soutar, a sales associate at the shop. ``Our retail just stops the day after Christmas and at this point it doesn't matter if we get a lot of snow. There is no real such thing as a good late season.''

Sportmart's Bertelsen notes that poor snowfall is not the only reason for lagging sales.

``Big ticket items go on a cycle. People don't buy new ski equipment every year. It tends to be every three to five years,'' Bertelsen said. ``Last year the weather wasn't 100 percent and we had one of our biggest years for retail sales.''

Ski resorts around the country have been experiencing the same snowless plights as California. On Thursday, Mother Nature finally sent some snow Massachusetts' way after a more than 300-day snow drought, and now local ski resorts here are hopeful that their time is coming soon.

The last day the San Bernardino Mountains got any snow was New Year's Eve, but the ground was too warm for it to stick.

Resorts like Big Bear Mountain say the lack of real snow hasn't had a major impact on them thanks to their snow-making machines.

``It is a poor season in terms of natural snowfall but the conditions are really, really good,'' said Judi Bowers, communications director for Big Bear Mountain Resort.

She said they have 90 percent of their ski trails open and expect to open the last main one soon.

``We've made a lot of snow and rather than battling the lack of natural snow we're battling the perception of it being a bad winter,'' Bowers said. ``It's all water and air, whether it's from the sky or a hose. The advantage to making snow vs. Mother Nature is that we can make as much as we need or want on a certain trail.''

While resort business is down 10 percent to 20 percent from last year, Big Bear's Chamber of Commerce said the number of visitors overall has dropped 25 percent.

``The fact that we make snow has helped tremendously and we've maintained a 2 1/2- to 3-foot base so the skiing is good,'' said Chamber of Commerce Manager Joe Goldberg. ``We just get more of the masses up here when it snows.''

One local retailer believes people should take advantage of man-made snow-covered ski trails.

``Most people aren't aware that Southern California is the single best place for snowmaking. You get perfectly manicured trails that stay good and very crisp,'' said Claude Swonger, owner of Ski Net in Studio City.

The six-year-old business deals primarily in sales and considers itself a high-intensity ski shop, targeting performance skiers.

Swonger said his store sales haven't increased or decreased this year.

``The particular clientele that I cater to will go and find snow wherever it's at,'' Swonger said. ``Usually Easter vacation is the last hurrah but unless the weather changes soon it will be a very short ski season.''

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Photo: (color) Gary Soutar of Performance Ski & Boards stands next to an unusually full snowboard rental rack in his shop in Woodland Hills.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer