A quick glance at the weather forecast for the end of this week is sure to have high school skiers (and parents) breathing a sigh of relief. The forbidding cold gripping the state is expected to give way to tropical (well, not quite) temps by the end of the week, just in time for the two biggest skiing events of the regular season.

Friday, most of the Alpine teams will gather at Minnesota's mecca for slalom skiing, Burnsville's Buck Hill, for the Buck Hill Invitational, which has become the most anticipated high school meet of the season. Expect most of the state's top skiers, minus the handful who are training or racing out of state, to be in attendance. Racing begins at 9 a.m.

Saturday, temperatures look to be in the mid-20s at Giants Ridge Ski Area in Biwabik for the Mesabi Invitational, which bills itself as the largest high school Nordic ski racing meet in the nation. How big? As of Sunday afternoon, the official website of the race — mn.milesplit.com — has 82 boys' and girls' teams registered for the race. The cutoff for entrants is 1,300 skiers. Elite racers include Wayzata's Alayna Sonnesyn and Irondale's Mattie Watts on the girls' side and Mound Westonka's Scott Harrison and Bloomington Jefferson's Zak Ketterson on the boys side. The classic 5K racing begins at 10 a.m., and the freestyle 5K starts at approximately 12:30 p.m.

More outdoor hockey

Ten metro hockey teams — eight boys' teams and two girls' teams — are set to compete Saturday in the High School Faceoff, an all-day outdoor hockey event at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.

Girls skate first as Eden Prairie takes on defending Class AA champion Minnetonka at 10 a.m.

The last four games feature the boys: Benilde-St. Margaret's vs. Minnetonka at 12:30 p.m., Lakeville South vs. Bloomington Jefferson at 3 p.m., White Bear Lake vs. Cretin-Derham Hall at 5:30 p.m., and Eagan vs. Eastview at 8.

Here's a quick glance at some other notable high school events coming up this week.

Tuesday

Boys' basketball: East Ridge at Roseville, 7:15 p.m.

Girls' hockey: Minnetonka vs. Hopkins at MIA, 7 p.m.

Girls' basketball: Park Center at Andover, 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Boys' basketball: Minneapolis Henry at Minneapolis North, 7 p.m.

Girls' basketball: Forest Lake at Roseville, 7:15 p.m.

Saturday

Boys' basketball: Lakeville North at Eden Prairie, 7 p.m.; Holy Family at New London-Spicer, 2:30 p.m.

Girls' hockey: Blake vs. Hill-Murray, at Aldrich, 2:30 p.m.

Gymnastics: Lakeville North Invitational, 8:30 a.m.