Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lokog]

Anyone interested in hitting the slopes this year. If you are let me know. thinking about organising a few trips this season. I know someone who can give lessons and get good discounts.

[chrisinkorea2011]

[lokog]

In my opinion Yongpyong and High one are bigger and better resorts than Phoenix. For the most part you can avoid crowds in Yongpyong if you know what slopes to ski on and when.

[The Cosmic Hum]

Can you share some of the details about YongPyong...when is the best time to go and what slopes?
What are the prices in general?
Would be nice to hear from someone that has some first hand experience on those slopes.

[lokog]

Sent a PM.

[sallymonster]

I skied at both Yongpyong and Phoenix Park last year and enjoyed them both. I've also been to Bears Town during the winter, but I didn't ski there.

This year, I'm planning four small-group overnight trips to Yongpyong, and at least 1 day trip to Sungwoo Resort, with my meetup group. My goal is for these trips to be true meetup-style skiing/boarding, where people can meet ski and snowboard buddies. On one of my ski trips last year I went with one of those big group tour companies for foreigners, and I was shocked at how hard it was to find someone to ski with in that group; seemed like everyone came with a friend or two and didn't care to meet other people! Plus, it was way too expensive.

Skiing in Korea is okay after it has just snowed. I'm from Oregon, though, so perhaps my expectations are low. Don't expect Whistler/Aspen/(insert name of your favorite ski resort here). Also, skiing conditions here can be very icy sometimes. The easier slopes are very crowded on weekends, but the more difficult slopes from the top of the mountain are not so bad. If you can ski blue runs in the US/Canada, you can ski pretty much everything in Korea. They groom everything except maybe one mogul run.

It's really easy to get discounts at Yongpyong Resort. If you bank at NH, KB, Shinhan, or Woori, use your bank card to pay for lift tickets and rentals and you will very likely get a discount of at least 30-40%. You also get discount coupons if you stay overnight in the resort (I think it's 30% off lift ticket and 40% off the water park among other things), but I don't think you can combine the coupons with bank card discounts.

Smaller ski resorts (and rarely larger resorts) often sell discount packages through social commerce sites like Groupon, Coupang, etc.

One last word of advice: if you want to stay overnight at Yongpyong Resort, particularly in the hostel, book NOW. Last year I tried booking in December for February and the hostel was full on all weekends, and I ended up staying in a hotel in Gangneung. Last month when I booked rooms at the hostel for my meetup group for January/February, I couldn't get the bunk beds and they made me settle for ondol rooms, possibly because I'm taking small groups of people. Anyway, tour companies book these places out way in advance hoping to make some money off of you. I know that the hostel at Phoenix Park is already completely booked through winter, and it wouldn't surprise me if Yongpyong Hostel is, too.

Hope this helps!

[lokog]

Join up with our group on Facebook and we will help you sort out trips to Yongpyong.

Any questions post them up here.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/157180661036070/

[lokog]

Don't go on the big tour groups. They are a rip off.

[sallymonster]

[lokog]

Well we can get you good deals and good discounts. Hopefully nature will provide the snow.

[sallymonster]

Didn't you read my long post from earlier? I, like many other people living in Korea, can get my own skiing discounts, and I don't need to pay someone to arrange something for me and my group. Even if you can get a better deal, I'm sure the difference will be offset by your fees.

And I should warn you, you're entering a rather competitive market. Rip-off or not, a lot of people seem to think that those large travel groups geared towards foreigners are worth the price (I don't, and I'm not affiliated with any of them, but that's another story).

Good luck with your business!

And don't forget that advertising here is a violation of the TOS. I suggest you stick to Facebook.

(For the record, I don't make money from my meetup group. Organizing get-togethers and trips is my hobby, not my business. I'm happy to share what knowledge I have about activities and travel in Korea, whether or not you ever join one of my events/trips.)

[lokog]

Ha! I certainly won't be making money from this. Just helping a friend out and trying to make it easier for other people. Although you can get discounts and are easily able to book yourself. It's not the same for everyone. I am just letting people know about somewhere they can book to go skiing. They can book for 20 people or one person. If people wants some help booking it's there. If they can do it themselves then great go for the best rates.

Those big tour groups are not the best way to enjoy the slopes in SK. I can see the attraction if you are on your own maybe.

Maybe I will see you on the slopes.

Enjoy.

[cgams33]

Hey guys,

I just moved to SK a week ago. I snowboard back in Canada and realize its not going to be comparable but still want to get out this winter.

You seem to know what your talking about so just curious ... are there any snowboard parks at the hills here? Jumps? rails?

Also I'm looking to make a few weekend and day trips and will be solo. If there are any groups going I'd definitely be interested in more info.

Any help is appreciated!

[jpe]

[sallymonster]

I haven't posted skiing trips to my group's website yet (will be doing that on December 19th or 20th or so), but here are the plans so far:

January 14-15 (overnight trip): Intermediate/advanced skiing and boarding at Yongpyong. Limited to 5 people total including myself.

Sometime during Lunar New Year weekend (probably Sunday or Monday): High1 Resort day trip. Limited to 4 skiiers and 4 snowboarders, not including myself. Be warned: meeting time is 5:30 AM.

January 28-29 (overnight): Beginner skiing at Yongpyong. I'll be teaching skiing for free, or if you want you can pay for an English-speaking private lesson from resort staff. Limited to 5 people including myself.

February 4-5 (overnight): Skiing and snowboading, all levels. Limited to 10 people including myself.

February 11: Day trip to Sungwoo Resort, all skiing/boarding levels welcome. Limited to 10 people including myself.

February 18-19 (overnight): Skiing and boarding at Yongpyong, and maybe Alpensia, too. Limited to 10 people of all levels, including myself.

On the trips to Yongpyong, we're getting discounts on transportation, lift tickets, ski/board rentals, sauna, and Peak Island waterpark. Actually, the guy I argued with earlier in this thread might be helping me out with that, if he can get us a better deal than I can arrange myself.

For the High1 trip, we'll have discounts on transportation, lift tickets, and ski/board rentals.

For Sungwoo, we'll get discounts on lift tickets and lunch. I'm also working on getting a rental discount, but no guarantees yet.

I'm keeping all of our trips small to make it easier to meet people and ski together. If you don't want to meet new people to ski/board with, our trips are definitely not for you.

There are other travel groups that do ski trips but most of them are rip-offs, particularly Adventure Korea and Discover Korea (now known as WinK). They mislead you by telling you about all the discount coupons and great deals they have, but then they overcharge you on transportation and accommodation, leaving you not much better off than if you'd gone skiing on your own. For the record, a bunk bed at Yongpyong Hostel costs 11,000 won per night, a five-person ondol room at Yongpyong Hostel costs 70,000 per night (split between 5 people equals 14,000 won per person) and round-trip shuttle bus to Yongpyong from Seoul costs 28,000 won per person (one-way is 15,000 won).