One of the things I heard about Korea long before I ever got here was the wonderful ski resorts they have. Now, being from Florida (and yes Kentucky as well) I've never been much of a snow person. I love it. I really do. It's beautiful and I love to play in it, for one day. Then it gets old because, well, it can be a pain. It starts to melt and gets all slushy and muddy. Not my cup of tea. But when I was in high school, I was lucky enough to go skiing over a vacation with family. There were no broken bones, no complete mishaps (that I remember) but that was also about 8 years ago. So when I forked out a large amount of money for a weekend of skiing, I didn't know if it was a good, or bad, idea.
Day 1: Before heading to the slopes (and before the weather turned ugly)
There were about 200 of us headed to the ski resort, the best ski resort in Korea. The condos we stayed in also had an awesome hot spring pool area, which was a definite plus. When we got there, we grabbed the clothes we rented, got skis and boots, and then had no idea what we were doing. Some of the gondolas were shut down, and this resort was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. The runs were FOREVER long, so as a beginner you definitely got tired.
Made it down my first run!
Notice the horrible weather
For our first run, my group decided to hop on a quick beginner slope. HA. Said beginner slope was up at the top, and there was no way down since the gondolas were shut down. And a "quick" ski lift trip later took us to the very top of the mountain. Not what we were expecting. I began freaking out about 2 minutes in. What if I don't know how to get off this thing? What if I break my leg right here, right now!? All the while Sarah (a girl from my EPIK intake) is sitting next to me cheering me on. You can do it! It's easy, you'll be fine! So we found a quick little slope and practiced for a bit, Sarah giving me a few instructions here and there. But it actually came back pretty easily. I remembered how to turn pretty well, though I would get really scared when I would get going fast. Please God, don't let me get hurt. After practicing for a bit, we decided to try to find a way down the mountain because we had to get our room keys. And the weather had gotten pretty ugly, so we were all pretty tired, and hungry. I ended up having to ski down an advanced slope that was said to be an intermediate slope. But I made it down without crashing or breaking anything. That night, I decided to forgo the night skiing and head to the hot tub, which was shut down about 15 minutes after we got there (2 hours early) because we were foreigners. Great. Later that night, we headed to the party with a live band and DJs. The night was fun and we all had a blast.
The next day was so much prettier. The sun was out! There was no snow coming down! And we happened to find the beginner side of the mountain. Good to know. We skied down a beginner slope to the other ski house, where we could grab breakfast, then headed up the ski lifts to the real beginner slopes. It was a really great day. I found a slope that I really enjoyed (probably because I actually made it down, but I could also take my time and actually enjoy it, rather than feeling like I could die at any given moment). Again, I didn't fall, but I didn't really push myself that much. Note to self, try harder slopes next time and don't be afraid to get a little snow on your butt.
I had a great time and can't wait to go again... hopefully I can make it back twice, but we will see!
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