Well the focal point of why Emily and I chose to go to Korea for vacation this year was to do some Downhill Skiing & Snowboarding. I knew I wanted to go to a country that had this feature and also wasn’t far from Taiwan. It came down to China, Korea or Japan. China I ruled out because I was unsure of what visa kinds of things Americans needed for going there and just something about the choice didn’t sit right. Japan got nixed because all the reports I’d heard were that its an expensive country…..definitely no good! Thus the Republic of Korea was the lucky winner.
So I started doing some research on the different ski resorts Korea had to offer. My plan was that Emily and I would hit two of them. In reality we ended up at one for three days. Yongpyong Ski Resort lost to Vancouver for hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics by only three votes and the internet consistently listed it as Korea’s best skiing. I figured if it was almost good enough for Olympians than two kids from Michigan would definitely be able to have a good time. It also had the bonus of having a hostel right at the hill which cost a whopping $8 USD per night for a bunk.
The resort is pretty big. There are several hotels to choose from, condominiums, apartments, restaurants, and one of the hotels even has an indoor water park. The vertical at its highest, if I remember right, was around 4,000 meters…..now that I think of it though that might just have been above sea-level and not a true top to bottom measurement, I don’t know. They don’t get enough snow for skiing though. Consequently the snow is mostly man-made. Its sort of strange to see the white slopes with skiers zipping by meters away while riding the chairlift above the wooded hill with only a dusting of white directly below your feet. I think my biggest complaint was that there was a fair bit of ice on some of the runs. In some places there were patches bad enough for ski-patrol to put up mini-blocks in the middle of hills. I also felt like the grooming could have been better as well. On the good side of things it was good skiing. I’d place it above Searchmont in Canada but below Loveland in Colorado in terms of length of hills, which is pretty much what I was expecting. Searchmont’s snow is way more fun though and Colorado’s prices are way higher so I guess its hard to compare. It was great to be skiing again!
For the first day I rented a board and Emily and I skied hard morning and afternoon. The next day back on a board I was a little sore though. We took it easier and explored some more of the hills….there are like 31 runs total. We went out for a few runs that night but that didn’t last very long as we were both tired and were afraid of injury. Day three Emily decided to hit the Korean bathhouse instead of the slopes so I rented a pair of skis and got a ticket for the gondola which serves the 5 km long intermediate trail and the double-black racing section of the resort. Upon reaching the summit though I discovered the racing section was closed…..what a bummer! It wasn’t too bad though because there were other blacks and double-blacks that I had already skied in other areas of the resort that weren’t bad at all. I particularly liked the hill that was formerly used for racing called Silver. The 5 km trail was fun too. An easy ride and pretty views it wove back and forth down the side of the mountain! Perfect for couple or family skiing.
While we were at the resort there was also some sort of competition going on. We kept on seeing signs for “Pyeongchang IBU Biathlon World Competition” or something like that and saw people walking around in matching uniforms with different countries’ flags on the sleeves and stuff. I really didn’t find out what it was all about though and the events or whatever must have been somewhere besides the skiing hills because we didn’t come across any of them.
One very pleasant surprise was the crowd. Everything I had read on the internet about skiing in Korea included complaints of crowded slopes and long lines for lifts. Thankfully this led to my decision to ski during the week which was probably the reason why the longest we waited in line for a lift during our three days was no more than 5 minutes at most. I didn’t feel that hampered at all going down the runs by other people. An interesting side-note is that we heard quite a bit of German which was weird because last year scuba-diving in the Philippines there were tons of Germans as well. I guess they just get out more than the rest of us.
We also made out with prices. My lonelyplanet guide book published in 2007 put the exchange rate at 700 or so Korean Won for one US dollar but when we were there it was like 1300 Won per $1 USD. We were also grateful that at Yongpyong’s restaurants and convenience stores the mark-up wasn’t as disgusting as it is at US Ski Resorts. Lift tickets and rentals weren’t terribly expensive either, plus staying at the hostel got us coupons for 30% off. I think I figured it out to skiing all day with a rental at full-price was like $90 USD per person. Considering thats about what you pay at Bittersweet in Kalamazoo, MI, which has never even been heard of by the Olympic Committee I’d say Yongpyong is a pretty good deal!
Enough with all the money details and reports on the hills and crowds. All in all it was wonderful to be on slopes again carving up the hills on a snowboard and skis. It was great having my nose go numb while the rest of my body stayed cozy and warm under thick layers of clothing. It was wonderful to get a hot meal and a beer and be able to truly appreciate its warmth and comfort after a full day of exertion. It was even wonderful to remember simple pleasures like using a window sill as a refrigerator. I’m glad we had this opportunity and now I can proudly say: I’ve skied Yongpyong!
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