Snowboarding Phoenix Park

This past weekend I went snowboarding to Phoenix Park with the Adventure Korea tour group.  There were about 80 people signed up on the trip.  

We met in Seoul on Friday at 1pm and headed to Pheonix Park resort area.  This is the area that Korea is hoping to win the bid for in the 2018 winter olympics.   (I have since learned that although there were signs all over the resort rallying for the Olympics, this resort is not, however, the one they want to win the bid). 

First we picked up our rental gear and clothing.  I wanted to find a rad outfit but ended up having to settle for the red LA Gear set.  Someone made a comment "We are going skiing, who cares about fashion?"  So I replied "Well clearly you haven't been skiing in Korea yet."  Fashion is everything in Korea.  And skiing is no exception.    

When we got to the ski resort it was about 6:30 or 7pm and directly after checking in to our youth hostel we all went night-skiiing.  I snowboarded for a few hours and then headed in.  

I met up with a few of the other girls I was rooming with and together we all went out for pizza and fried chicken.  Our meal took a long time to get to our table.  When we noticed that a group of Koreans who came after us was served fried chicken 2 times before we got our first, one girl cried racism.  Racism is a really big deal here and many foreigners (just that fact that we are called foreigners..) get upset.  Frankly, I hardly notice it at all.  

The next day I went snowboarding on my sweet "Dungeons and Dragons" board with Nicole.  Together we hit up almost every run in the resort, but it was a rather small and easy ski resort.  Really, if you count in the picture above, there are only about 10 runs-- maybe even less depending on how you count.  

That evening we walked over to the Phoenix Blue Canyon which is an indoor/outdoor water park.  Normally the nighttime admission fee cost w39,000 (about $33) but we got a group discount for only w11,000 ($9.40)!!  It was well worth the 11,000 and I thoroughly enjoyed the water slide, hot tubs, lazy river, and water-massage stations.  

After another pizza dinner (from Dominos this time) it was time for bonding over drinking games.  We played card games and other various games and then we all went out to Karaoke.  Naturally, I aced my karaoke singing contest and did another rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody (score 99%) followed by I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry (score 100%).  

I went home early with a headache.  I also lost my voice at some point in the evening.  I blame Queen.  

On Sunday we had the option to go skiing again but I chose not to.  Instead, I took my book that I was aching to finish up to the fancy hotel and bought myself a fancy latte (blueberry flavor!) and read and relaxed.  

All too quickly it was noon and time to pack up and go home.  We battled the crazy traffic and drove through the snow flurries and got back to Seoul at around 6:30pm.  

By the time I got back home to my apartment, it was about 8pm.  

Another good weekend.  

Now if only I could get rid of this disaster of a cold.  ...

Snowboarding Muju

Last weekend I went snowboarding at Muju Resort with the Seoul Hiking Group on Facebook.

We left from Yongsan Station at 11:30pm and arrived in the resort area at about 4am.  At that time we were able to sleep in a cheap pension for w5,000 each.  We got up at 7:15am with plans to rent equipment and be on the slopes by 8:30.

But few things ever work out as planned and that day was case-in-point.  The van driver was confused, we didn't get our equipment at the right place, we didn't have lift tickets (though they were already pre-paid and so we didn't want to re-buy them), and to make matters worse, when trying to get on the free shuttle bus to the rental equipment place we ended up taking the wrong bus and driving for 1.5 hrs instead of the 5 minutes we were expecting.  oops.

By the time we were on the slopes and everything was in the clear it was noon.  But no matter.  We had a great time snowboarding and honestly I couldn't have handled skiing all day anyway.  It was cold and snowing.  But damn it was beautiful.

I spent most of my day with a guy named Ian who studied English at Wooster College in Ohio though he is actually from Minnesota.  We were pretty evenly matched skill-wise and he was good company.  These pictures are actually all his since I temporarily misplaced my travel camera.  

The chairlift up to the top of the mountain bore some of the most stunning views I have ever seen.  I felt like I was in a magical fairyland with its perfectly glazed white trees and epic views of the land below, reflecting the sun's rays like an opened treasure box glistening with gold.

 When we finally made it to the top of the top of the lift and saw this pagoda I think I felt my heart skip a beat.  It was stunning.  The way the snow clung to certain parts of the pagoda was magnificent.

 

Inside the pagoda we saw the craziest thing.  There was a Korean family all huddled together around a kerosene lamp drinking tea and eating lunch.  None of them were in skiing regalia.  I can just imagine the conversation... "Hey kids, we are going to take the gondola up Muju today and have some family bonding in the bitter cold."  "Can we go snowboarding, dad?"  "No, son.  We will just freeze our asses off and watch foreigners stare at us in bewilderment instead"

But man was it cold.  It was really really cold.  It was a good thing the ride up was so beautiful otherwise I would not have forgiven Muju Resort, for the ride down was pure hell.  Picture yourself snowboarding down an ice skating rink at a 45-degree angle and you have an idea of what it was like.  I couldn't get any traction on the hill and I fell on my knees quite a few times, bruising them up pretty badly.

By the time I got back home it was close to midnight on Saturday.  Even with our crazy bus adventure, the bitter cold, and the icy slope of death, it was a great day.  I was glad to have met some new, great people and get out on the board again.

AND! This weekend I'm going snowboarding again at Phoenix Park!

   

Big Air

After my haircut on Saturday I ventured down to the downtown Gwanghwamun Square for the FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air competition.

There was a lot of controversy about the competition because although the same event has taken place in cities like London, Stockholm, and Moscow, Seoul was the first to host the event in all of Asia.  Although he denied the accusations, rumors flared that the mayor wanted the event as a way to ensure his upcoming re-election.  The event cost w700-million (about $600,000) and required 500 tons of ice.       It is said that 310,000 people visited the square during the 3-day event.

The ramp here is 20m high.

Photo credit to "The Chosun Ilbo" 

There really were a LOT of people at the event! I could hardly see over all the people but thankfully there were at least half a dozen JumboTron big screens in the area.  Slowly but surely I made my way up through the crowd and was able to take a decent picture of the ramp.

Gwanghwamun Square.  The snowboarding competition is behind the big statue.

Looking behind towards the metro station and the city.

I was too far away to get a good action shot, but ooh look, it's a JumboTron photo!

After a late dinner at a Vietnamese Pho restaurant nearby, I attempted and failed once again to correctly take the bus back from Seoul.  Although I could have sworn that you could take a bus from Yangjae to Yeongtong somehow I wound up at Suwon Bus Terminal, which although not terrible, did require me taking yet another bus for 20 minutes back home.  Time and time again, I totally fail at bus navigation..