Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rgreen8314]

thanks for posting about your weekend, ty. lots of good information in there, especially regarding the bus.

how much was your lift ticket for the day? did you end up getting any discounts?

sounds like you took your own gear... get any sense of what the rental process would be like?

i think i'll be pulling a sick day from deskwarming this january and heading up there on a weekday... sounds pretty decent.

[ty7180]

Hey Ippy, Yeah it is probably a good idea to wait a little bit to use your board. I googled sierrascope and now I want a new board! The town of Muju seems really small, but to be honest I didn't explore the town that much. I would think you would be able to find a guest house or something. rgreen, I think I paid 65,000 for the 6:30-midnight ticket, and 50,000 for the 12:30-4:30 ticket. It looked like maybe 2/3 of the people rented gear from the shop. They have a big rental area with locker rooms and everything you need available. As for rates, I don't know. I am now dreaming about snowboarding and can't wait to go again!

No, unfortunately I didn't get any discounts. If I would have known in advance what to bring I would have. They didn't give any discounts for being extremely good looking!

[ippy]

jesus thats expensive! a day pass at niseko (possibly the most expensive mountain in japan), from 9am to 9pm runs you at just over 5000 yen. FOUR HOURS for 50,000 won? On fake snow? What the hell?

Ps, what board are you on right now ty?

[mtmelton]

You can get a 20 or 25% discount on the tickets if you have korean bank card. I got the same pass for 39 with my KB card. They told me a KEB would get a discount as well. Did you buy at the ski shop or at the mountain? Either way there are lots of cards running around they entitle you to discounts if you ask.

[ty7180]

I though it seemed expensive, but since it was my first time I didn't have anything to compare it against. I'm using a Head True 154. Once I go a few more times, I'll probably get a longer, better board. Thanks for the advice on the bank card discount. Next time I'll definately take advantage of that. Ty

[ippy]

i wouldnt be in a rush to grab a new snowboard quite yet. You really wont need it. Whats your weight and height if you dont mind me asking. Its just so i can make sure youre on the right size.

I assume youre probably around average weight and height (70-80kg, and probably 5.10ish just because thats er, average and you probably wouldnt be on a 154 if you were any heavier than that).

If youre in the low end of the 70s theres nothing wrong with a 154 at all. If youre at the higher end, youll probably find it struggles a bit at speed, but what you lose in carving youll make up for in freestyle and park by the end of the year, so dont sweat it too much. at the end of the day its pretty unlikely youll be riding the board to its limits even by the end of next season, so its still got plenty of life left in it for you and will probably do everything you want to do with it.

I dont even know what my first deck was, i bought it at a second hand shop becaus eit was kinda bendy and i was told thats what i was supposed to look for in a board

I think it was around a 160. Rode it all my first season and loved it. My second board was an all mountain freeride board from 2005 (bought last year). It was tough to ride park, but man, it could fly. Definitely too technical for me to even be on it, but learned a lot from it. I guarantee i never took that board even beyond 40% what it could do if pushed. And by all rights, i shouldnt have touched that artec for another 3 or 4 years, but i decided i wanted to learn to freeride and hit pow, so went in that direction.

This year ive gone a bit flexier mainly so i can cover the stuff i should have been learning last year but was on far too much of an unforgiving board to do. (Plus i was way too fat! was around 82kgs by the end of the season. A 157 freeride was pushing it if i really wanted to effortlessly glide through the pow)

what im trying to say (before i got all distracted by the chance to talk all about me) is that you dont need to sweat the board so much, especially in your first season. My best mate learned on what can only be described as a plank of wood with a picture of mutley on it. The first day she ever rode it, we went into a shop to get the bindings switched, and the guy told her she should throw it out because its around 15 years old and a piece of shit. I kid you not, it was literally a plank of wood. She spent the season on it and was absolutely fine.

Assuming youre roughly the right size for it and its not too soft for you (it sounds like its a medium-stiff flex just from the product description), theres absolutely no reason at all that the board wont get you through a couple of seasons.

You seem to be enjoying the ride so far, just make sure your boots are comfy and youll wreck it on anything

[ty7180]

I'm 5'11" and around 83kg but my weight fluctuates anywhere between 80-90kgs depending on if I'm trying to put on weight or cut down. When I bought my board It didn't seem like they offered many over 154, but now I am starting to see many larger sizes. My contract ends at the end of May, so I guess a lot depends on if I stay in Korea another year, or if I try Japan out. I keep buying so much crap here, I have no idea what I'm going to do if I move I'm going to Seoul for Christmas seeing as I only get 1 extra day off and I was thinking of tying out a place nearby. I think we are probably going to hit Muju again some weekend after New Years, but I'll let you know to see if you want to meet up. Ty

P.S. My wife thanks you for telling me I don't need a new board. Next time help a brother out, and explain how the more expensive the board is the better and safer it is! Cheers!

[ippy]

haha, sorry about that, but you may need a proper size board in truth. You should really be riding something between 157-160 (and id strongly suggest a 160 in truth). Youll not feel the problems for the majority of your first season (assuming you get somewhere in the region of 8 to 10 days riding). But once you start carving, youll definitely feel some instability which is going to hinder your progress a bit. So in the spirit of compromise, id switch up next year to a more stable board that wont wash under you when you start dealing with speed.

Of course you dont NEED it, need it. After your first few washes youll realise how far you can push the board and not cross that line, but snowboarding is all about the ride at the end of the day, and its kinda pants when you cant really play in anything over a few inches of powder without having to seriously kill your thighs. No no, next season you MUST buy a new board! It must be a medium flex rocker and it must cost something in the region of 250-350 dollars - maybe you can grab the gnu carbon credit nice and cheap at the end of year sales

[ty7180]

Thanks for the advice on the board. Being the holiday season and all, I'm all about compromise. This weekend might end up being a nice time at Muju. I live about half a mile from the beach on the south coast (Samcheonpo) and it is snowing outside right now. I'm from South Texas where snow is a pretty rare sight. Right now it's hard to tell who is more excited, me or the students! rgreen, I read online that you can rent everything except goggles and gloves. I can't verify if this is 100% correct, but you might want to check so you don't end up having to pay double the cost at the resort.

[ippy]

right, trying to psych myself for this weekend. Still dont know about how to get from gwangju to muju, but im determined by the end of today ill have cracked this apparently super super secret!