As promised here is the skiing blog post from last weekend. The picture on the left is of Nate and myself after we had finished our morning runs on Sunday in some brutal -17 Celsius weather. All weekend long the weather (especially the wind) was not very kind and last weekend had to rank up there as some of the coldest skiing I've done in recent memory. That being said, I'm glad that we decided to go; it's always nice to get away for the weekend and the discounts we got by going with the Discover Korea group were too good to pass up. There was some snow on the mountain, but not nearly as much as either of us would've enjoyed. The majority of the runs were covered in man-made snow, which turned to ice in the afternoon and froze again overnight, but it was still fun to get out there for the first time this season. We left from Suwon after school on Friday and took an express bus out to Gangneung (강릉) out in Gangwon-do, which, if some of you more seasoned readers of this blog may remember, is where my Chuseok 2009 journey began. We stayed overnight in Gangneung and caught the shuttle to Yongpyong (용평) Saturday morning, where we met up with the rest of the Discover Korea group. Yongpyong is roughly 40 minutes from Gangneung, so it didn't take us that long to get there in the morning, which was nice, because it meant we got a full day of skiing in on Saturday. Yongpyong is nearby Pyeongchang, the Korean city that is vying for the 2018 Winter Olympic bid. There are 2018 Winter Olympic flags and signs up everywhere, but it's my opinion that if the IOC was worried about having enough snow at Whistler and Blackcomb last year, then there's very little chance that Pyeongchang could host the Winter Olympics. Unfortunately it just doesn't snow enough here or consistently enough for the mountains to be able to guarantee snow for the skiing, snowboarding, and other sports. Back to last weekend, renting ski equipment here is always a fun adventure because my build is so different from the typical Korean build. It's always a challenge to see whether the rental shop will have ski boots in my size. It didn't make much sense for me to bring my ski gear from home, especially if I'm only using it a few times a year, so rental equipment was the way to go. Anyways, the rental staff found me a pair of 320mm ski boots, which I was able to squeeze into on the lowest setting, although my calves were happy to be done skiing on Sunday. Skis were not a problem, but the rental staff were a little worried that because the bindings on my skis were on the highest setting, that if I fell, I'd be ejected pretty easily. Thankfully, falling was something I didn't have to worry about. The weather on Saturday was cold but manageable. It hovered around -15 Celsius for most of the day with a great cold wind blowing across most of the mountain, but at least the sun was out. After a few hours on the slopes we stopped in for some lunch. Typically, my favorite ski snack/meal is a nice hearty bowl of chili, but unfortunately, there was no chili at any of the chalets so I chose the closest Korean equivalent: kimchi jjigae, which is basically kimchi stew with spices, some beef, and tofu (the bean part). We got a good 3 1/2 hours on the slopes in the afternoon before we called it a day and met up with the rest of our group for a little Christmas dinner. Our Christmas dinner consisted of pizza, chicken, and beer, which was all good and it was nice to meet some new people. It turns out a few people from the Discover Korea group also live in Suwon. One of the greatest pleasures post-skiing is to relax and rest up the sore muscles in the hot tub. Luckily, as is only natural of a Korean ski resort, there was a sauna in one of the hotels right next to the mountain, so after dinner, most of us checked out the hot baths to give our muscles some rest and relaxation. The mountain remains open for evening and night skiing, but we decided that it was too cold and we knew we we're going to try and hit the slopes again on Sunday morning. After getting a good 3 hours in Sunday morning, Nate and I returned our equipment and caught the shuttle back to Gangneung, where we took an express bus back to Suwon, which took a little longer than usual because of Sunday afternoon traffic (unavoidable on any weekend).
The last few days have been mostly a build up for me for my trip to Thailand. I have most of my clothes and other things I need to pack out right now and once I finish this post I'll finish that. Those of you that have seen me in the past few weeks know that my mane or Jew-fro has grown out a little bit and I think it's time to get it shorn a little bit before I embark to hot and humid Southeast Asia. That's about it from this end, I've got my camera ready and I'm packing a notepad and some pens so I can keep of everything we do and see and give it back to you when I get back in two weeks. I hope everyone has a great New Year! Hopefully mine will be spent celebrating a Badger victory in Pasadena! Here's a little something to get all those Badgers in the right spirit.
What I'm listening to right now: "Day Tripper" by the Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwmtNk_Yb2Qhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxJzADik5TA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K03W8UAlRgw
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