First ski trip.
So I finally tried skiing (as well as seeing snow!) for the first time in my life. For someone being born and raise in a country whereby its 365 days of summer, winter is as good as a movie or picture for us.I started off with comparing different ski agency for their rate and timing. The bad thing about taking packages is that there are always something that doesn't really go along with your plan or that you don't want. So I decided to do my research on direct booking.
Why did I choose Yongpyong instead of other ski resort? Cause it has the easiest transport method from Incheon Airport and to Seoul, and that it has a reputation for having one of the best slope (doesn't really matter if you're a beginner though). Furthermore, most of the travel agency have packages to Yongpyong, so my guess is it wouldn't be that bad.
Yongpyong Resort
After asking many of the agency, I realised that the accommodation booked are usually those pension, which are not at the resort itself (they even lied that the hotels are fully booked!). Being one of those who are really afraid of cold, I don't dare to risk staying in a cold room. I don't think it will be that bad but it's a Singaporean's kiasi way of life!
So I decided to do my own research of the hotel available. Luckily, it is easy for me to get any information of the hotels available in Yongpyong Resort just from the website itself. There are a number of accommodation available in Yongpyong:
- Dragon Valley Hotel
- Tower Condo
- Villa Condo
- Greenpia Condo
I chose Dragon Valley Hotel instead as there's only 2 of us and we don't really need a bigger (or more expensive) room. Hotel is good for us as we can call for room service if needed, plus the hotel is just around the slope, whereas other condo are of walking distance.
We were lucky to be able to get a room upgrade from Deluxe Twin to Super Deluxe Twin. Remember to get the discount vouchers when checking in!
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| View from our room |
Since my friend decided not to ski on the second day, we have plenty of spare time to walk around and take photos! If you're not looking at skiing only, Yongpyong can get a little boring. There's nothing available here other than ski-related activities and restaurants / cafe.
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| Failed attempt to build a snowman |
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| Shape of snow! |
We happened to saw a booth showing some Gondola that goes up to Dragon Peak. Luckily for us, we decided to keep the discounts vouchers given by the hotel, which entitled us (10 or 20% I can't remember) off the price!
We never regret going up! It's like Winter Sonata on top!
The best part was.... I saw the Song triplets too!!! Sadly, photos of them are strictly not allow. But... I managed to secretly snap a photo of them..
That's 송일국 with 민국 and 대한 at the back! My happiest moment in this whole trip!!
Transportation
I don't know if there are other means of transport to Yongpyong, but I came across Purple Ski Bus from Yongpyong's website.
It costs USD $108 for 2 pax from Incheon Airport to Yongpyong Resort and back to Myeongdong the next day.
It was confusing to locate the bus at Incheon Airport. The instruction of the pick up location is clea, however, in the e-mail it stated "Daewon" bus but the bus that came was "Daewoo" bus. Furthermore, the signal on the bus stated "Alpensia Resort" only but not Yongpyong. Luckily for us, we are able to communicate with the driver with my minimum understanding of Korean language.
The journey to the ski resort from Incheon Airport takes around 3hrs with a 20-minute stop over at Yogin Rest Area 용인휴게소. This is the place where Running Man episode 266, Gary and Ji hyo had Bibimbap and also the place whereby Ji hyo betrayed Gary T_T.
The bus will stop at Alpensia first follow by Yongpyong. For Yongpyong, the bus will stop at Tower Condo Parking area.
For the return trip to Seoul, just go back to the same area and look for the bus labelled with "Myeongdong". If in doubt, approach the row of buses and ask any of the bus driver.
It's 3.5hrs with no stop over for the trip back to Seoul, so stock up on your food and toilet break before boarding the bus!. The bus will stop just outside Hotel Skypark Myeongdong III.
Ski Lesson
Being really noob in skiing, I decided the best way to start is to get proper training. After much research, I came upon Fantastic Korea website. They provide private ski lesson and transportation in various ski resort in Korea.
I booked a private lesson for 2 pax, which cost me ₩340,000 in total. ₩40,000 online and ₩300,000 to be paid in person. The cost includes:
- 2hrs ski lesson
- 4hrs ski lift rental
- ski clothing rental
- ski equipment rental
- ski gloves (new pair)
They have only 4 timing slots:
9:00 am - 11:00 am
11:30 am - 01:30 pm
02:00 pm - 04:00 pm
07:00 pm - 09:00pm
You may refer to FuntasticKorea for more information.
The rate went up by around ₩80,000 when I booked as compared to when I first came across the website but I still go ahead with the booking. I chose the 11:30am - 01:30pm slots as I couldn't make it for the earlier slot. I got a reply from them that the slots are full and they suggested giving me the 12:00pm - 02:00pm slots instead.
My experience didn't started off smooth cause THEY FORGOT ABOUT ME!!!! Luckily for the Hotel staff at Dragon Valley Hotel, I managed to contact the HQ and they made the necessary arrangement for me. For those who are booking, please make sure to contact FuntasticKorea if the ski instructor didn't contact you the day before via any means (whatsapp, katalk, etc)!
Edit : got an email from the head of the ski instructors that this is an oversight of their part, not FuntasticKorea. Understandable as it was during the peak period. I remembered that my ski instructor said that he haven't even had his lunch (it was 4 already). Furthermore, they are able to make arrangement for my friend and I as soon as they realized their oversight. Kudos to that! The instructors reached around 1pm and my friend and I were driven to Alpensia Resort instead for our ski lesson. My instructor is a 22yo Korean by the name of DK. He's really patient with us and taught us according to our individual pace. He's really protective of his students too; he will get angry with other when they lost control and knock into us. He's also really active in helping us take photos and video.
Don't worry about language barrier as they are able to converse in English, though not fluently but enough to teach and have simple conversation.
Remember to bring some thousand notes along for the locker to put your personal belongings like shoes and outer coat.
He started off with teaching us on the ways to put on and take off our ski equipments, follow by the way to fall. We practically did not use the ski stick at all throughout except to remove our boots. After that, he will guide us on the way to accelerate and decelerate when on the slope. He will encourage and push us higher up the training slope as and when he thinks we are ready. He proceed to take us to the beginner slope when he think that we are fine to go.
Over there, we learnt to turn left and right while skiing down as well. It is much more difficult as compared to the training slope as the slope is steeper, so it tends to accelerate really quickly!
We stopped before 4pm as the slope need to be closed to refill the snow. Oh! I forgot to mentioned that as snow fall was low, artificial snow were used instead of real snow. according to DK, real snow is softer and smoother to ski in.
We still paid the originally agreed price of ₩300,000. We did not do any haggering cause we had 3hrs of private lesson instead of 2hrs, even though we only had 3hrs of skiing time too. Well, even with the little hiccups in the beginning, we still had fun and will highly recommend this instructor!
Costs
Hotel: ₩224,000 (SGD 285.08)
Transport: USD 108 (SGD 160)
Ski Lesson: ₩340,000 (SGD 434.52)
Total: SGD 879.60 for 2 pax (2D1N weekday of Christmas week)
Remember to bring some thousand notes along for the locker to put your personal belongings like shoes and outer coat.
He started off with teaching us on the ways to put on and take off our ski equipments, follow by the way to fall. We practically did not use the ski stick at all throughout except to remove our boots. After that, he will guide us on the way to accelerate and decelerate when on the slope. He will encourage and push us higher up the training slope as and when he thinks we are ready. He proceed to take us to the beginner slope when he think that we are fine to go.
Over there, we learnt to turn left and right while skiing down as well. It is much more difficult as compared to the training slope as the slope is steeper, so it tends to accelerate really quickly!
We stopped before 4pm as the slope need to be closed to refill the snow. Oh! I forgot to mentioned that as snow fall was low, artificial snow were used instead of real snow. according to DK, real snow is softer and smoother to ski in.
We still paid the originally agreed price of ₩300,000. We did not do any haggering cause we had 3hrs of private lesson instead of 2hrs, even though we only had 3hrs of skiing time too. Well, even with the little hiccups in the beginning, we still had fun and will highly recommend this instructor!
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| Us with our cute instructor |
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| Blocked (purposely!) by another instructor. haha |
My thoughts after my first ski experience - tiring but I love it! I will definitely be back the next year to ski again. It's something like rollerblading i guess; same technic used, but it is much harder. Gonna try snowboarding next time!
Hotel: ₩224,000 (SGD 285.08)
Transport: USD 108 (SGD 160)
Ski Lesson: ₩340,000 (SGD 434.52)
Total: SGD 879.60 for 2 pax (2D1N weekday of Christmas week)
Hello Sarah! I just came across your blog and I would like to thank you for your sincere comments on our ski lesson. Actually, it was not Funtastic Korea's fault as they had informed me well in advance. I have sent you an email with more details. Sorry again and I hope you still had a good time in Korea! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is truly an amazing place to stay i recommend it! With my family we come here every year!
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