Lady Whakapapa

Worry stirred in the air as the smog hovered above. Red toned rocks dotted the land like biscuit crumbs. And from out of a stunning blue appeared the first of the snow capped greats. Her striking glow commanded attention. The snow draped around her shoulders and spread like a white silk gown. Her majestic persona graced the jagged terrain. All eyes stared in awe. 

A haze fell over the bus as they pulled into the last turn toward the mountain foot. The bus grunted all the way up and despite the quiet,  Whaea sensed the excitement. The door clanged open. Matua examined the road before he pressed his boot delicately to its icy tar. The rest followed clumsily after him, slipping and gripping on to each other. A group of girls cackled and squealed as they balanced skilfully. 

They crammed into the lifts with another group who were exchanged foreign words. The handful of toddlers amidst the foreigners stabbed their skis into the floor and chewed furiously on their gum. Matua gestured to his group to let the foreigners out first. 'Gee they look like professionals' whispered one of the girls. 

They pulled their boots on and snapped all the latches into place. Some of them twiddled nervously in their gloves, others stood upright and clunked their way towards to sliders where skiers from every ethnicity and of various levels awaited entry into the gates. They swiped their cards and the gates bleeped as Matua and Whaea lead their comrade to the designated spot. 

"I am your instructor for today" squealed a small framed woman. "First we gonna put on our ski's and you follow me please" Whaea though at the moment it was going to be a long morning. They could barely understand the instructors accent. 

The group followed the commands, like true foot soldiers. A couple branched off the track and requested to go it alone. Matua scanned his surroundings and pushed off the snow into the clearing. With bent knees and weight forward he executed his first glide before angling his skis inward  to perform the perfect stop. The small framed woman gave a pleasing nod and  belted out her final instruction. "Now have fun!" The group dispersed into the fields and weren't seen for the next 2 hours. 

Whaea sipped at her coffee up in the veranda. The fields were speckled with fluorescent dots. Some stagnant, others carving trails in the hills. As much as Whaea wanted to get on her skis, she knew that it had been less than a year since her knee replacement and thought it best to stay off it. 

She tried not to focus on her age, and how quickly time passes. It had been more than 15 years since she'd been on the snow. 

She watched the boys below preparing a supply of nicely packed snow balls. She had a good arm once.  

She smiled at the thought of the girls below, waiting for the instructor to look away, so they could get in a sneaky snow fight. She could see Matua up in the gondala and some of the boys on the lift heading toward the top. She breathed in the crispy air. The glare caused her to squint and for a moment she drifted off. 

"Whaea! Whaea!" The panicking voice jolted Whaea from her heavily rested state. "Tati got knocked out!" The sky suddenly appeared grey. Matua arrived at the site where a very apologetic ski guide was. Mrs Patea sent out a search to gather up the crew.  Tati lay in the snow, she'd been rammed by another learner, who happened to be 5 times her size. Whaea knelt down with her as the instructor called for the medics. At that moment a notice was sent out for the field to be evacuated. A snow storm was expected to hit the mountain within 2 hours. 

The medics were come, but rushing. Matua had rounded up the group and headed up toward the gate. The wind picked up and whaea could  

 

carved swerving trails. The van pulled away we looked back and stole one last glance. The great majesty slowly faded into the blue and her beautiful image forever ingrained in our memories. Thank you Mrs. Lunjevich for driving.