[Guest]

Has anyone been snowboarding in Korea? I might be living in Cheonan next winter and would like to know if it would be easy for me to go on a few snowboarding trips. I hear that the Pyeongchang area has some good slopes, but it's very busy.

 

[killclimbz]

We have a couple of members who were based out of South Korea. I'm sure if they see this they'll chime in.

From what I saw the resorts were pretty basic. Not world class (cliffs, huge chutes, terrain parks etc) but serviceable. My hunch is that if you are willing to huff it a little, there is some pretty amazing terrain that can be had. Of course I know very little about the South Korean scene, so there could be same pretty bad ass resorts there.

 

[BlackhawkDriver]

I've been in korea for the last 3 years and i'll tell you the riding is not great. If you're from some of the big winter sports areas ie colorado, utah etc and expect that kind of shred you're gonna be disappointed. that being said tho it is fun, the people are super friendly and its something cool to do. Most of the decent areas are up towards pyeongchang. you could look up yongpyong, alpensia, pheonix, and high 1 resorts online theyre all up there. If you end up in cheonan though those places are about 3 hours drive away. (I live in Pyeongtaek and its about 2.5-3 hrs for me). a little closer to home is yangji pine resort and jisan which are right next to each other about 40 min away from where I live. They are both VERY small though but like I said its still pretty fun to go. Oak valley is a little bit further and its a bit bigger. I guess everything is comparable to east coast riding. lots of man made snow on small mountains/hills.

 

[volcom21d]

I've been in korea for the last 3 years and i'll tell you the riding is not great. If you're from some of the big winter sports areas ie colorado, utah etc and expect that kind of shred you're gonna be disappointed. that being said tho it is fun, the people are super friendly and its something cool to do. Most of the decent areas are up towards pyeongchang. you could look up yongpyong, alpensia, pheonix, and high 1 resorts online theyre all up there. If you end up in cheonan though those places are about 3 hours drive away. (I live in Pyeongtaek and its about 2.5-3 hrs for me). a little closer to home is yangji pine resort and jisan which are right next to each other about 40 min away from where I live. They are both VERY small though but like I said its still pretty fun to go. Oak valley is a little bit further and its a bit bigger. I guess everything is comparable to east coast riding. lots of man made snow on small mountains/hills.

Are you still going to be there for this season? I pcs there next week, looking for some people to ride with this winter

 

[dreampow]

You can now fly over to Japan for very cheap, If I were in Korea I would look to make at least one big trip out here in the best season.

Route Map | Peach Aviation

This cheap no frills airline will fly from Busan and Seoul to Osaka and you can connect to fly up to Sapporo. If you book well in advance it can be super cheap.
From Sapporo an hour or two by bus gets you into some of the best powder in the world.

 

[volcom21d]

You can now fly over to Japan for very cheap, If I were in Korea I would look to make at least one big trip out here in the best season.

Route Map | Peach Aviation

This cheap no frills airline will fly from Busan and Seoul to Osaka and you can connect to fly up to Sapporo. If you book well in advance it can be super cheap.
From Sapporo an hour or two by bus gets you into some of the best powder in the

I'm already planning a trip late January for some splitboarding and resort riding with the wife. :yahoo:

 

[ETM]

Where are you planning on riding? I will be in nagano area mostly and looking for split partners. Do you have rescue skills and gear?

 

[volcom21d]

Where are you planning on riding? I will be in nagano area mostly and looking for split partners. Do you have rescue skills and gear?

I have all the avy gear(minus a float bag) and some experience from this past season splitting in the cascades. No official avy classes but the people that I toured with were certified mountain rescue and showed me the basic skills (beacon searches, probing, and digging techniques). Plus I fly medevac, so I'm pretty proficient in keeping people alive

As for where I'm going, still uncertain at this point. Where do you suggest?

 

[ETM]

Anywhere however you should look into an ast1 course in hakuba Hakuba Backcountry guides, Avalanche Courses and Magazine
Ill be around there all of jan and till feb 17

 

[santacruzin]

I've been in korea for the last 3 years and i'll tell you the riding is not great. If you're from some of the big winter sports areas ie colorado, utah etc and expect that kind of shred you're gonna be disappointed. that being said tho it is fun, the people are super friendly and its something cool to do. Most of the decent areas are up towards pyeongchang. you could look up yongpyong, alpensia, pheonix, and high 1 resorts online theyre all up there. If you end up in cheonan though those places are about 3 hours drive away. (I live in Pyeongtaek and its about 2.5-3 hrs for me). a little closer to home is yangji pine resort and jisan which are right next to each other about 40 min away from where I live. They are both VERY small though but like I said its still pretty fun to go. Oak valley is a little bit further and its a bit bigger. I guess everything is comparable to east coast riding. lots of man made snow on small mountains/hills.

Second this. I've lived in Korea since 2011, and been to Phoenix Park, Yongpyong and Alpensia. Nothing spectacular (and kinda hard to believe the Olympics will be held here), but they have decent snowmaking equipment and occasionally get some decent snow - short season though, like 3 months tops. All the resorts have ski buses going to/from all corners of Korea (free if you've got a season pass, at least with Phoenix Park), so it's easy to make a weekend of it.

Tried searching for any backcountry guides & all I came up was this (I'm not affiliated with these guys & never been on the trip myself) http://www.teamaxadventure.com/modules/catalogue/detail.php?inoGood_no=60&ino_code=18 - looks like it is definitely possible to do it yourself if you're adventurous.

 

[afuciarelli49]

Im not sure where you are located but im assuming your military of some sort?

i was stationed in korea for a year with the AF and we were out boarding every weekend. Im from michigan with a bunch of small hills so going out there was a freaking blast for me. These arent huge, but they are still better than nothing. heres the resorts ive been to with some reviews:

High1: Decent-packed crowd, They always have snow on the mtn no matter if its man made or natural. This is one of the newest resorts in korea so everything is pretty nice with alot of good people working there to help. They are always very late with setting up their parks and will make you ride with on if you want to hit the park.

Muju: This is where we lived as it was closest to our base. This is more of a less traveled resort so if you go during the week you can have a blast just riding the mountain with your friends. They are a little slow to build up their base but once it gets going into the season they have some of the most beautiful terrain and slopes. Also slow about building up a park, same rules with the helmets. Very strict about staying within the designated ski areas. Awesome little shopping and drinking area.

Phoenix- extremely packed, even when their wasnt any snow. A bunch of super "steezy" riders that dont care about anyone or anything in their way. Runs are pretty cool and interesting. Snow was alright when i went there but i wasnt eager to go back. ur experiance might end up being different than mine.

One thing to remember is when in big crowds, koreans will push through you or will be a little rough. Same goes for when you are on the hill. Ive never seen so many people run into each other or get hurt from just blasting full speed into other people. We had one girl brake her arm from being hit so hard, my buddy broke a pair of his headphones, i saw stars and went cross eyed from being hit... stay on your toes :dunno:

 

[ippy]

Im not sure where you are located but im assuming your military of some sort?

i was stationed in korea for a year with the AF and we were out boarding every weekend. Im from michigan with a bunch of small hills so going out there was a freaking blast for me. These arent huge, but they are still better than nothing. heres the resorts ive been to with some reviews:

High1: Decent-packed crowd, They always have snow on the mtn no matter if its man made or natural. This is one of the newest resorts in korea so everything is pretty nice with alot of good people working there to help. They are always very late with setting up their parks and will make you ride with on if you want to hit the park.

Muju: This is where we lived as it was closest to our base. This is more of a less traveled resort so if you go during the week you can have a blast just riding the mountain with your friends. They are a little slow to build up their base but once it gets going into the season they have some of the most beautiful terrain and slopes. Also slow about building up a park, same rules with the helmets. Very strict about staying within the designated ski areas. Awesome little shopping and drinking area.

Phoenix- extremely packed, even when their wasnt any snow. A bunch of super "steezy" riders that dont care about anyone or anything in their way. Runs are pretty cool and interesting. Snow was alright when i went there but i wasnt eager to go back. ur experiance might end up being different than mine.

One thing to remember is when in big crowds, koreans will push through you or will be a little rough. Same goes for when you are on the hill. Ive never seen so many people run into each other or get hurt from just blasting full speed into other people. We had one girl brake her arm from being hit so hard, my buddy broke a pair of his headphones, i saw stars and went cross eyed from being hit... stay on your toes :dunno:

You mention muju, so on the point you made above about lunacy at korean ski resorts:

The bottom half of muju in all zones is a mess. Possibly the side with the dominoes pizza place is a bit less well travelled, but it also has incredibly slow lifts.

Stay the hell away from the bottom half of the hill. Also avoid the green runs (blue runs in US iirc). Theres nothing more hilarious than 3pm at the bottom half of the mountain trying to ride through about 2000 people completely out of control with ski patrol blasting their whistles in the hope that order was somehow magically materialise.

Up the top though on the interemediate lines, nary a soul to be found. So long as you can charge a steep of about 35 degrees, go grab yourself an ego boost with hundreds of people AMAZED that you even tried to ride it let alone pointed the board straight down and wrecked it. Its fun Plus, no lift queues on the half way hill back up to the top... well, not many. There are a few people who run the green path coming round skiers right - its their only realistic option if they arent up for a side sliding down a steep).

First time i went there i spent my morning on the left hand side (skiers left) of the mountain (i figured id hang about there in the morning so i could grab pizza for lunch)and almost tore my hair out at the queue at the bottom when i finally decided to head for the top. I almost went home in a sulk. But i promise you, get past that mid point and its a different mountain. Sure, realistically it means youre riding half the mountain (dont cross the middle). But its pretty decent terrain up there if albeit a little short.

Also, dont try and ninja into the trees. Its total ice. Even withrazor sharp mtx youd struggle to grip on. Lessons from the past

 

[afuciarelli49]

You mention muju, so on the point you made above about lunacy at korean ski resorts:

The bottom half of muju in all zones is a mess. Possibly the side with the dominoes pizza place is a bit less well travelled, but it also has incredibly slow lifts.

Stay the hell away from the bottom half of the hill. Also avoid the green runs (blue runs in US iirc). Theres nothing more hilarious than 3pm at the bottom half of the mountain trying to ride through about 2000 people completely out of control with ski patrol blasting their whistles in the hope that order was somehow magically materialise.

Up the top though on the interemediate lines, nary a soul to be found. So long as you can charge a steep of about 35 degrees, go grab yourself an ego boost with hundreds of people AMAZED that you even tried to ride it let alone pointed the board straight down and wrecked it. Its fun Plus, no lift queues on the half way hill back up to the top... well, not many. There are a few people who run the green path coming round skiers right - its their only realistic option if they arent up for a side sliding down a steep).

First time i went there i spent my morning on the left hand side (skiers left) of the mountain (i figured id hang about there in the morning so i could grab pizza for lunch)and almost tore my hair out at the queue at the bottom when i finally decided to head for the top. I almost went home in a sulk. But i promise you, get past that mid point and its a different mountain. Sure, realistically it means youre riding half the mountain (dont cross the middle). But its pretty decent terrain up there if albeit a little short.

Also, dont try and ninja into the trees. Its total ice. Even withrazor sharp mtx youd struggle to grip on. Lessons from the past

We usually went to the lift that would take us to where the castle was positioned and ride that side of the mountain for the entire day. That always had less people and some diverse terrain. we never went near the bottom though, we always stopped at the cafe thats mid-mtn. Going to the bottom spells disater as you are stuck in line, with 18293640123 people.

 

[volcom21d]

Looking to do some riding this weekend and next. Living outside of Humphreys... anyone game? Got space for maybe 3 as long as you chip in for go-go juice.

 

[Wangta]

Boarding in Korea is like boarding on the east coast in the US - very icy, mostly man made snow, cold and windy. Think Killington. It's too bad b/c Japan is the opposite and so close!

 

[ippy]

Should add that ive now moved to Gangneung, so sort of right next to Yongpyong.

Its a cool resort. I wont bore you with the details... but sort of like goryu without 47 maybe. Or goryu with a bit of 47 thrown in. So far seen about 60% of the mountain (opening as we get the snow machinese up and cranking in the different parts of the hill). Feels a solid mix of easy base area lines and nice intermediate but shortish lines. Only one run so far pushing over a few minutes, but a superb little gem in the gold area that will keep me riding there well into march.

Another thing to note, been told this several times by different people: The snow hits here late season. Early season theres not enough moisture, but around march you get the first spring like rainy conditions, and if its cold enough, it gets proper puked on. So could be an interesting way to push your season a little later if you want to hop from the japanese peak pow season, to the yongpyong pow season. Of course, all claims to be investigated.

Tomorrow off to check out the longest run they have on the books (the rainbow course). Been told its a bit bland as a run, but a good warmer upper. Plus gondie access at last so gets you above the base which is always good in Korea.

 

[Wangta]

Should add that ive now moved to Gangneung, so sort of right next to Yongpyong.

I'm sorry bro.

 

[ippy]

Update: now in Gwangju again, so back to Muju. More importantly though, back in public school instead of hagwon, so proper weekends (working mon-sat last year), proper pay, and proper vacations! So back to japan again i reckon.

As for yongpyong... it didnt work out. The golden side is nice and all, but super short. The middle is crap. And the rainbow area (ie. the top) is great, but a) needs a proper dump - it gets windblasted to shit, and b) requires you to sit in a gondola for 25 minutes as you inch your way slowly to the top.

Oh, and the snow absolutely sucked this season. I saw two dumps. And by dumps i mean 10-15cms. Were i still working there, i would probably have quit riding until i could get back to japan (or find a solid beater like my old indoor fk). It just wasnt really doing anything for me. Im not a park rat, and my boards fun, but not playful. So kinda rubbish season to be honest :embarrased1:

 

[vodkaboarder]

I lived in SK for four and a half years. I used to organize a tour bus and take 30-40 people to Muju. we would bring tons of liquor and party the whole way there. We would have because there were so many of us but fuck..... the only thing more boring than that hill is the village itself. There is absolutely NO nightlife there at all. Just ten Koreans to a room sleeping on the floor by 9PM.

 

[nutmegchoi]

Boarding in Korea is like boarding on the east coast in the US - very icy, mostly man made snow, cold and windy. Think Killington. It's too bad b/c Japan is the opposite and so close!

That's disappointing. :dry:

I was born and raised in Seoul, S. Korea.
Moved to the states 1999 and never had a chance to ride Korean mountains.
I was really curious about them and according to the statement, I guess I didn't miss out much.