After 11 years, one of Pengi's secrets has been revealed.
While Pengi's remarkably improved skills in Cardrona Alpine Resort's terrain park this season can be credited to the skills of a male mountain worker who was appointed this year to look after Pengi full time, early childhood teacher Gemma Wilson (25), of Dunedin, and skifield hostess Carol Little have also been instrumental in helping the mascot do his job on the slopes.
Ms Wilson was with Pengi for five years and still occasionally fills in when Pengi's present minder takes time off.
Pengi was "born" on July 27, 2000, after ski school members Nigel Kerr, Bridget Legnavsky and Rachel Milne decided the skifield needed a mascot.
Ms Little, who has worked at Cardrona for 16 years, became Pengi's "Mum" and says Pengi is more popular with small children than United States snowboard superstar Shaun White, who visited the skifield two years ago.
"The wee kids don't know Shaun White ... but Pengi, he skis the terrain park, the halfpipe, the rails - he does everything now. He's out there."
When the ski school decided to "employ" Pengi, the resort would not have a bar of it and refused to cough up $8000 to design and make his suit, Ms Little said.
"They thought it was a stupid idea to start with, so the ski school paid for him. But once he was on the mountain, they realised how good he was ... You should see the letters he gets. It's amazing," she said.
Ms Wilson was working at Cardrona's early childhood education centre in 2007, when Ms Little asked her to be Pengi.
She had to learn to ski and is very proud of the particularly rapid progression Pengi has made this year with his new minder.
Pengi's first suit was designed and made in Dunedin, but his exploits have been such that Ms Little has had to remake it.
"He's been doing more break dancing this year so needed new paws," Ms Wilson said.
It's mostly a joyful job, but the occasional tot has burst into tears.
"One time I was in the child-care centre at Cardrona and one child was scared of Pengi. She thought Pengi had eaten a human, because she could see my face through the suit," Ms Wilson said.
Some children have been devastated to find out Pengi, like Santa, is not real.
Being seen without the hood was not good, Ms Wilson said.
Ms Little agreed: "A headless penguin is not on the menu.
That's only for behind closed doors."
Ms Wilson said Pengi must have a lot of energy to cope with children climbing all over him, and, while being a mascot was a quirky job, the only qualification was enjoying being with children.
The biggest benefit was being let to the front of the chairlift queue, but Pengi did not get paid superstar rates and got the same mountain rate as other skifield workers.
"Occasionally, he gets a few extra chocolate fish," Ms Little said.
Pengi is soon to be immortalised in fibreglass.
Ms Little is commissioning a Wanaka engineer to make a 2m-tall model of Pengi to stand alongside the model of Frosty the Snowman in the skifield building.
The model would be made at considerable cost but would be worth it, Ms Little said.
But who is Frosty? And why is he never seen out on the slopes?All we can report is Ms Little has plans for him too.
