Time to hit the Slopes…Guide to Skiing and Boarding in Korea
December 10, 2007
The JoongAng Ilbo put out a guide last week about where to go in Korea for the best Skiing and Snowboarding. The article is here.
My personal favorite is YongPyong Resort. I went there quite a few times last season. I would wake up at the crack of dawn, get out over to Lotte World(you can also catch the bus near Express Bus Terminal) to catch the 4am bus–Sleep on the bus, and be on the lift by 9am. In my opinion, the AM sessions are the best by far in Korea–the runs just get more and more packed as the day goes on. After a day of boarding, head back to the bus. Take the 4pm bus and you’re home by 8:30. Not too bad, if you ask me.
There are a few renovated and new resorts this season. Stay tuned for updates on them. Readers: if you have any personal favorites, please let us know. Also if you have any advice in regards to going skiing/boarding–let us know.
Oh yeah, if you have big feet like I do–bring your own equipment from your home country. The odds of finding it in Korea are slim to none–all my stuff is ordered and shipped to Korea.
I was reading a thread over on Dave’s just last night. It seems there’s a new resort on the scene that’s getting some good word of mouth. It’s called High 1.
The thread is here:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=101982
The resort website is:
http://www.7ski.co.kr/
And a youtube video:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bs917WSlBEI
It’s also notable that commenter no_hite_pls suggested taking a trip to Hokkaido where the skiing is world class, but the resorts are having trouble making money. The following news story was quoted:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/business/worldbusiness/24skis.html
I didn’t have any problems finding US size 12 snowboard boots for rental at YongPyong or Jisan, and they’ve always had the right length boards for me too (I’m 6ft. or 183cm). Nice thing about being my size is that I often get brand new equipment for rental.
But YongPyong Resort is your favorite? Way overcrowded and lacking in snow was my opinion last season. Jisan’s not that great, but there’s always been enough snow and often enough space to get away from the masses of people.
I guess you could say that i’ve got some boats…size 13! Never been able to find anything in that size.
As for YongPyong–one of the reasons i like it so much is for the long runs. Last year i went, i guess i picked the right days because it was either snowing or had recently snowed makeing some really great powder for the slopes.
I hit the slopes a lot during the week last year, so i don’t know how they were during the peak weekend times. (my job had a few holes in it last season–unfortunately not anymore!)
But, my guess is with most of these places–if you want to actually have room to ski-hit the morning session!