The lodge at the top of a 20 minute gondola ride
Today we had the wonderful opportunity to spend the day skiing at Yongpyong All Season Resort (site of the 2018 Winter Olympics), not to be confused with Pyongyang (site of a crazy, nuke-loving dictator).
To be honest, we have been acting like snow-snobs all winter, turning our noses up at the prospect of skiing on artificial snow. However, with the end of the season quickly approaching, and facing the prospect of our first ski-less winter in 25 years, my boss offered us a ride up to the mountain, and we jumped at the chance.
What kind of wax is appropriate for these conditions?
Okay, so it's not exactly on par with Whistler, but beggars can't be choosers, and the fact is that even though there wasn't a flake of real snow on the ground, there were miles of runs with artificial snow. Now I have always heard the man-made snow makes for bullet-proof runs that are more like bobsled runs than ski trails, but that wasn't the case at all. It was just like perfect spring snow!
Go Jen!
Let me start by saying that the mountains in Korea are small, more like the Appalachians than the Cascades or the Rockies, so they don't have any bowls or open faces. In fact, they don't have any off piste at all. The only moguls we skied were pre-fabricated ones that were fenced off on the side of a blue run. So the skiing here is all about cruisers. But some of the runs are over two miles long, and frankly a ton of fun! This will actually be a great place for the olympics - lots of moderately steep terrain, and plenty of room for spectators.
A big thanks to my Ski School brothers who hooked me up with my all-time favorite jacket
Apart from getting out of Seoul and onto the slopes, one of the best things about the day was the cultural experience of seeing how they run a ski resort in Korea. I knew it would be different in some ways, but I never expected this: the lifties bow to you as you prepare to off-load at the top of the chair! How cool is that! So dignified. Yet I found myself worrying about the lumbar strain on these young men's backs. Obviously the food was different from what you get back home - steamed buns stuffed wtih red bean paste instead of curly fries, but I was expecting that. From what I could tell, the skiers use the same techniques here that they use back home, but the snowboarders did two things diffent: they go for super-deep carved turns, and many of them don't even bother to put their boards on their feet until they step (yes, step) off the lift at the top. How's that for a solution to the perennial annoyance of the out-of-control offloading snowboarder that you all despise?
The good news here is that even if you can't read the trail map, there are no hazard areas to worry about
And there weren't any lift lines
Over all we had a great time with great people and good snow conditions. So glad we went!
My boss is a great skier - and he doesn't even hate snowboarders
We got in miles and miles of turns
and had another great Korean experience.
