The mountains are not kind. Oligosoma tekakahu does not need them to be. At twenty-two to twenty-six centimetres in length, it is a large, robust skink. Dark brown to greyish-brown colouration features pale flecks and stripes that provide camouflage among rocks. Belly is pale cream. Eyes are dark and watchful. A design that raises questions. The answers are in the scree. A skink of the snow line. Found only in the high mountains of Fiordland and Southland, in alpine and subalpine grasslands, rocky outcrops, and scree slopes. It basks on sun-warmed rocks at the edge of the snow, soaking up heat that fuels its hunting. A lizard that lives where snow lingers. Confined to a few high-altitude valleys in Southern Alps. One of most restricted ranges of any New Zealand lizard. Viviparous, giving birth to live young. Females produce two to four offspring each year. A slow reproductive rate that makes species vulnerable to population decline. Young are born in late summer and are miniature versions of adults. Independent from birth. A slow return. A long wait. One of New Zealand's rarest lizards. Alpine habitat is shrinking as climate warms. Threatened by predation from introduced rats, stoats, and cats. Snow is retreating. Predators are climbing higher. Skink has nowhere to go. Habitat loss from climate change is primary threat. Also threatened by spread of invasive weeds. Classified as Nationally Critical, with fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining. To see a Southern Alps Skink is to see a lizard of snow and rock. A survivor of high mountains. Its future depends on protection of alpine habitat and predator control. The skink basks on a rock at edge of snow. Sun is warm. Rock is warm. Skink does not know that snow is melting faster than it used to. It just basks. That is all it can do.