Korea’s ski industry in spotlight
Olympics shining light on what it has to offer
YONGPYONG, Korea – As the highspeed chairlift deposited me at the top of Gold Peak, I was greeted by a polite bow from the lift operator and a blast of frigid air.
I turned downhill, pausing to take in a breathtaking view of Korea’s rugged Taebaek range. Another blast of icy wind ended my procrastination and I dropped into a wide and well-groomed trail.
Every Olympics teaches us things about the host nation. South Korea has long been a popular destination for skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts throughout Asia, but now Americans are getting a close look at the country’s mountains and the modern resorts that have sprung up there.
South Korea has more than a dozen resorts, most are modern and efficient and take advantage of the country’s steep terrain.
Yongpyong, opened in 1975, was the first resort in South Korea and is one of the largest. Its highest peak, Dragon, is nearly 4,800 feet. The resort has 14 lifts, including a gondola, and 28 trails.
South Koreans started to take to skiing as their economy expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and people increasingly pursued leisure activities.
Golf is also popular here.
Yongpyong attracts about 450,000 skiers and snowboarders a year, according to Son Ji-Hyang, who heads operations at the resort. About 70% of the customers are foreigners, mainly from China, Singapore and other Asian countries, she said.
Ironically, the Olympics has slashed their business. The resort is hosting slalom and giant slalom events and has closed that half of the mountain to tourists.
Small winter sports businesses throughout the region are also suffering. Spectators, athletes and media are shuttled around in buses, usually bypassing stores and restaurants that are not part of Olympic venues.
On a recent day, Yongpyong’s slopes were virtually empty. Lift lines were non-existent and workers behind the rental counter stood idle.
But Son hopes the exposure from the Olympics will generate interest from skiers and snowboarders in the USA and Europe.
Maybe so, but it will remain a stretch for Americans. Flying 12 hours or more is a long way to go, when getting to the Alps is quicker.
Lift tickets are roughly the same price as in the USA.
But it is a unique experience. Instead of burgers and fries, hungry skiers hunch over steaming bowls of noodles, served alongside kimchi, the spicy pickled cabbage and radishes.
The drive from Seoul is about three hours on a major four-lane highway that traverses mountain passes and cuts through tunnels. A train also services the area.
Both methods provide dramatic scenery as Seoul’s crowded streets eventually give way to rolling hills and then steep pine-covered mountains.
Yongpyong is nestled in the rugged mountains stretching along the eastern Korean peninsula into North Korea, where Kim Jong Un is also pursuing the winter sports market.
The country announced this year that the completion of its second luxury resort, Kanggye, which is in the north- ern part of the country near the border with China.
Kim Jong Un, who was educated in Switzerland, grew fond of winter sports while there. The ruling family’s ties to skiing go beyond that, said Michael Madden, an analyst at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Kim’s grandfather, Kim il Sung, would ski while operating with partisans opposing Japanese rule.
“People associate (North Korea) ski resorts with Kim Jong Un because of the Swiss connection, but in fact it goes all the way back to the regime’s origin story,” Madden said.