Korean Job Discussion Forums

kraggy · Joined: 06 Mar 2011

Hey, never snowboarded before.

Would like to try if for a day.

So how do I go about it?

1. Where is good for a learner to try if for the first time?
2. Should I just rock on up the mountain, buy my day pass there and rent my gear there or should I organise all that in Seoul?
3. How do I get up there if I do decide to do it independently?
4. How much should it cost?

I assume I just need to buy the pass, rent the board and boots and that's it, right?

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

That's about it.

You'll have trouble finding lessons in English here. And you will need lessons. Snowboarding requires quite a bit of practice, and there's a few things you're going to want to know/have demonstrated the first time you go out. You might be able to learn some stuff through YouTube.

If you don't want to invest a lot of time, skiing is easier to pick up.

I've seen people ski down some pretty steep hills no trouble after one day of lessons. It will take you significantly longer to reach the same level of proficiency on a snowboard. Unless you're some kind of prodigy or something.

Where are you? There are ski hills all over the place, you might not have to go too far.

kraggy · Joined: 06 Mar 2011

Hey Bob,

I'm in Bonghwasan, north east Seoul at the end of line 6.

So what's the best way of going about it, whether it be skiing or snowboarding.

i.e. renting the gear and buying pass in Seoul vs. doing all that up at the mountain?

Thanks for the reply.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

Price increases directly proportionally to proximity to the mountain. The closer you are, the more expensive everything is.

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

Closest hill to Seoul is, uhh, I'm not sure. Yangji? If you want a less crowded hill, go further. The season just started. Hills near to Seoul are probably packed to the rafters.

v88 · Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Location: here

Hills usually have bus / lift ticket rates. Phoenix Park has silly high prices if you show up to the counter (once I went there and they were charging 80,000 for a lift ticket...bloody Whistler prices, without anything that Whistler's got) but if you got the bus and lift deal it was 50,000 won for a bus from CO-EX (Samsung Station) and lift pass for the day. That's a pretty good deal for a day.

Sometime the rental places around the resort offer low rental costs (20,000 won) plus a 30% discount on a lift ticket. We used to do this for my wife at Phoenix Park.

Some of the hills here in Gyoenggi are cheap (30,000 won the last time I went) and have free bus service. Jisan Resort (almost next to Yangji) south of Seoul has a free shuttle as well as relatively cheap lift tickets. Both resorts are good places to learn but can be extremely crowded on the weekend which is not fun for a newb. You can go there almost any time of day though. They have early morning ski sessions as well as all night sessions. These are good time to beat the crowds and you can get skiing in before work if you like.

The best rookie run is at Daemyung Vivaldi near Chuncheon though. Not the cheapest resort and not the closest, but overall not that expensive or far compared to Hi 1 or Muju (or Phoenix Park for that matter). The rookie run is wide and only used by very beginners so you don't have to negotiate faster (and usually reckless) riders who are still learning but think they have magically become snow gods. This is a really safe place to learn to ride.

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=266845

I suggest going on a weekday to avoid crowds. If not, make sure you get up to the hill early, ride through lunch while the Koreans are all eating, have a late lunch and possibly end the day early with a coffee (apres ski and beer sux here) before the lines get too terrible.

A final resort, and a bit of a dark horse is Seoul Resort in the North. Not very popular, old as the hills, cheap like grandmas borscht and good enough to find your snow legs.

There are many other resorts:
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/travel2/skiing
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/search/EnuSearch.jsp

Find the resort homepage and find the lift prices and buses that run there. They all have bus service. Rent your gear from someplace near the resort...or if you are a real miser, in Seoul. Just don't rent from the resort itself. Resort gear is over priced and terribly shitty.

I was an instructor for a long time in Canadia, so my knowledge of the slopes and best places to learn are pretty spot on.

Have a good one.