Over Wintry Mountains

Over Wintry Mountains is the third main area in the Snowfall Field. This area is unique in that the gameplay takes place almost entirely on top of a bottle cap, sliding down slopes at high speed. The player can only throw Pikmin at enemies and snowballs, and veer the improvised bobsled left or right slightly. Most of the treasures and Pikmin in this area are obtained by taking down Coppellers that are carrying them.

Description
The area begins at the top of a hill, on straight land. At the end of this stretch of land starts a slope that goes downhill, and this is where the sliding section of the area starts, after a cutscene showing Olimar plummeting off the hill.

During this section of gameplay, the screen always scrolls forward at a constant rate, following the whole hill down with its ramps and drops. The player can slowly veer the cap left and right, but can only remain in roughly the central third of the screen. If the player does not move Olimar, he will slowly lag behind to the left, until he reaches the left-side limit of the screen. Besides that, the only thing the player can do is throw Pikmin to keep Olimar safe. The only real obstacle is the snowballs, since they can kill Olimar; it's impossible to die in any other way. The player can also use the whistle, although it is pointless here.

The first thing that happens once the player starts sliding is a Puffy Blubbug shows up from behind, bounces on a platform high above Olimar, and ends up some distance in front of him. This is the player's first challenge, as the creature starts bouncing in the direction of the captain. Touching a Puffy Blubbug will make Olimar bump away from it, which can shove him into danger. Simply throwing one of the four Winged Pikmin that are following Olimar is enough to toss it off the track. Some Coppellers then show up, carrying Pikmin, Sparklium Seeds, and The Real Magic. Another Puffy Blubbug also starts bouncing in from behind. The Coppeller carrying the treasure does not die in one hit – its health needs to be brought down before the creature is defeated, and the treasure is dropped onto the track. If the treasure lands on the floor, it will keep up with the screen, until the cliff ends, where the treasure will just plummet into the abyss below while Olimar jumps off and continues the ride by landing on the next cliff.

During the transition to the different cliff, a trail of Sparklium Seeds traces the trajectory of the jump. After that comes a snowball rolling downhill in front of Olimar. Every Pikmin hit, the snowball is pushed away, and every two hits, it becomes smaller, up to a limit. It is constantly moving in Olimar's direction, and grows in size over time. It cannot be destroyed, only pushed away, and touching it will instantly kill the captain. After this, some more Puffy Blubbugs show up, with the same snowball still rolling around, before the hill ends again with a similar jump to the next hill as before. This hill is smaller, and the player only needs to worry about the snowball, before the jump to the next. The track repeats this pattern of small hills with the snowballs and Coppellers, until a Coppeller carrying the Rarely Seen Cell shows up.

The area continues in the same fashion, with jumps off cliffs, the snowball's threat, and Puffy Blubbugs. Eventually, one of the cliff ends has a lip going upwards, which serves as a ramp, making Olimar jump out of it much higher than normal. The snowball ends up falling in this cliff. During this long fall till the next hill, some Coppellers show up below the captain, carrying Pikmin. During this, a trail of Sparklium Seeds follows the full trajectory of the jump. The next sections have small dips on the floor, and some Puffy Blubbugs and Coppellers. After another jump to a different cliff, a new snowball shows up, but this time, it creeps up from behind Olimar. While the player is busy shoving it away, Coppellers carrying Winged Pikmin show up, so the player has to balance between hitting both the snowball and the enemies. After some more Puffy Blubbugs, another ramp at the end of the hill sends Olimar into a small tunnel in a wall, before which the snowball falls.

This tunnel is where the sliding gameplay ends. At the end of the tunnel, there is a ramp blocked by a rock. After colliding with it, Captain Olimar lands on the floor below, and after getting up, he approaches the bottle cap that served as a vehicle this whole time, collects it as a treasure named the Getaway Vehicle, and then proceeds to the exit, as the Winged Pikmin he collected during the ride show up.

Enemies

 * &times; 1 (only appears in a cutscene)
 * &times; 15
 * &times; 28

Obstacles

 * Snowball &times; 2

Others

 * Yellow Sparklium Seed &times; 102 (5 carried by Coppellers, 97 in the open)
 * Red Sparklium Seed &times; 5 (carried by Coppellers)

Guide
From the start, go forward to start the main sliding part of the game. Don't worry too much about the first Puffy Blubbug, since even if it bumps into you, there is no danger. When the first swarm of Coppellers show up, start throwing Pikmin at them, prioritizing the ones carrying Winged Pikmin and The Real Magic. Try to stay under the Coppeller with the treasure while you do this, since the Puffy Blubbug coming up from behind will jump over Olimar in this spot, and will get knocked out by one of the Pikmin you throw.

When the snowball is on-screen, throw Pikmin at it to keep it away. While you don't have anything better to do, throw your Pikmin at it, even if it is off-screen. Try to keep yourself near the right side of the screen when you throw the Pikmin, so you have space to your left to run to if things get out of hand, and so that the Pikmin can reach the incoming snowball better. When the two Puffy Blubbugs show up, focus your efforts on taking them out, and then continue hitting the snowball (again, even if it is off-screen). Try not to stay too close to the right side when fighting off Puffy Blubbugs though, since they could distract you enough for the snowball to get you in no time. When the next set of Coppellers show up, throw your Pikmin at them, again prioritizing the ones carrying Pikmin, but throw some at the snowball if it comes close. When the Coppeller that has the Rarely Seen Cell shows up, attack it relentlessly, since the snowball should be far away for now, but throw a couple of Pikmin at it if it gets close again.

When the next set of Puffy Blubbugs show up, make sure you're doing a good job of keeping the snowball off the screen, since it can creep up on you quickly while you're fighting off the enemies. One bump from a Blubbug could mean your death. Remember to hit the Blubbugs as soon as possible though, since it gives you more time to try more Pikmin throws if you miss, before the Blubbugs bump into you. In the section after the big drop, the Blubbugs don't pose a threat, so you can focus your efforts on the Coppellers more. During the second snowball chase, keep to the right side of the screen and throw Pikmin at the snowball, but remembering to switch targets when Coppellers show up. The snowball here is a bit slow, so keeping a lot of space between you and the obstacle is a better strategy than last time. Before the Blubbugs show up, make sure the snowball is really far away, and then take your time with the enemies, while still keeping an eye on the ball. Even if you get bumped a few times, you should have enough space to not hit the snowball.

At the end of the ride, just go forward to grab the Getaway Vehicle and exit the area.

Trivia

 * Olimar's descriptions of treasure for this level appear noticeably inaccurate. The Real Magic seems to refer to having an adequate reserve of Sparklium to return home, when this is likely but not guaranteed during this point in the game. Rarely Seen Cell refers to it being located within a cave, while the treasure is found carried in the air, within a level entirely outdoors. Getaway Vehicle has Olimar describing how he ran from snowballs, when he actually rode the described treasure the entire way down.