Best Skiing in Korea

[JosephGoetz]

Yo climbers,

What is the best ski area in S. Korea? I have done a little research and Muju Ski Resort seems pretty good. What do you recommend?

Thanks.

[skinsk]

Muju was my local "resort", but seeing as I was barely around in winter, I rarely went. It's the southernmost and the few times I was there, only a few runs were open with mostly artificial snow. The scenery was mostly brownish hills. I think if I'd been around longer in winter, I would have traveled further north.

[shanja]

Muju is OK, it has the longest run in Korea....some 6km when it's open. The place is high up and so being south isn't an issue. Like everywhere it gets crazy busy, but dodging people is an art form and adds to the excitement...if only you could legally either ban/ remove or kill all the wannabe losers who "ride" snowboards by sitting side by side across the slope and crowding out the off ramps of the lifts etc, whilst they smoke, sit on their behinds and try and look cool with the thousands of dollars of gear they bought but can't use, because it's their 1st time ever and it's all about the fashion don't you know?
Still that happens all over Korea, and I like Muju, especially at night you actually can get the slopes to yourself and the snow is not so bad.
Hi-1 Resort (High-1?) is meant to be good, but haven't skiied there yet. Will hit up the smaller Hyundai-Sungwoo Resort in a week or so. Short runs (under1km) but maybe OK in the week if this snowfall keeps up.

[jason in Sokcho]

The three big resorts now are Muju, High 1 and Yongpyong and in all honesty I would ski what is closest (of those three or try those three out). With the acceptation of High One I have spent at least a day at all the dcent resorts in Korea and a great many days at yongpyong. All the youngpyong instructors head across to High One, so that’s where I will be heading for a look soon. Rules for skiing Korea:
Don’t ski the weekends if all the runs are not open. You will have the “wannabe losers" that Jake described on the only available black run and you will get injured. 3 years ago at yongpyong I was skiing GS and a wannabe loser in 3 grand worth of kit and who had most likely only skied a day in his life did not look up hill, skied across the mountain, on to my GS run and I hit him at over 60 KM an hour. I clean snapped my arm in half and required a fully plated arm back in NZ and he was KO with a broken leg. Point, being, limited runs available will get you hurt on weekends. Ski patrol can barely ski themselves, so do not expect any favors from them. When the whole mountain is open things are a lot easier going and nature seems to find some order with 95% of people skiing their correct level. Always however watch for the 5%! Follow this thread http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forums/t2305-skisnowboarding-in-yongpyeong.html and perhaps we can all make a trip of it sometime in the New Year.

Look at the homepages for a feel. www.high1.co.kr & www.youngpyong.co.kr Use explorer to access and they all have webcam feeds to give you a feel for the runs-in-yongpyeong.html and perhaps we can all make a trip of it sometime in the New Year.

[Mox]

I went to High-1 a week ago. The place isn't bad, most of the trails were open and the ski lifts hold enough people at one time to move smoothly. The problem was that there are not enough challenging trails. The hardest slope is just a black diamond at best; but with so many people cruising down it some moguls built up, which made it a little better. The easier trails were packed but i liked zigging and zagging, that was actually kind of fun, i only got creamed by one korean snow bunny gone out of control. There is a small pipe, but it wasn't open when i was there, sadly. It was all artificial, so expect packed ice and lots of chop. I'm used to that from the Poconos (anybody else?) place is a bit expensive, so i don't see myself going back any time in the near future. if anyone is going to Muju soon let me know