Six winters in a row for local skier

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 27, 3 December 1984, Page 5

Six winters in a row for local skier

A twenty-year old Ohakune girl is on her way to Vale in Colorado to spend her sixth winter in a row doing what she likes best ... skiing. Alison Thompson was still at Ruapehu College when the Turoa Skifield opened in 1979 and she, like many other College pupils, took advantage of the special school skiing programmes operated by Turoa. As a result of her progress, ability and interest in the sport she was awarded a scholarship by the Ohakune Businessmen's Association in 1980 which helped with expenses, race entry fees etc. After leaving school she started as a cadet in the T uroa Ski School during the 1982 season under the guidance and direction of Christian Mulleg and John Ball. Since then she has spent northern hemisphere winters in America and southern hemisphere winters on Turoa. Her first two seasons in

America were spent as a ski instructor on the Stevens Pass skifield in the Cascade Range, one hour's drive from Seattle in Washington State. She stayed at the nearby township of Skykomish where she also did some waitressing in the evenings. Alison said that because the skifield, which has eight chairlifts, was so close to

Seattle people would come out to Stevens Pass after work and after school to ski by floodlight until 10pm each night. Instead of returning to Stevens Pass this season Alison has decided to explore one of America's premier skifields — Vale is a vast winter resort with a gondola lift and more than 20 chairlifts which is frequented by most of America's famous skiing fraternity — including its former presidents and their families. There she will be meeting up with and staying with fellow New Zealanders Jude Glennie (Turoa 's snow hostess this season) and Sarah Walter. Alison hopes to find a job as a ski-school instructor but won't know until she gets there. In the meantime she'll settle for any kind of job — working in a shop or waitressing. "Waitressing is a very lucrative business in American ski resorts" said Alison last Sunday week before heading to Auckland to . catch her plane, "because on a good night you can make as much as $40 in tips alone — particularly when they hear your Kiwi accent." Vale opened its 1984-85 ski season two weeks ago and Alison hopes to stay on until the end of their season in late April before returning once again to New Zealand — and Turoa.