Yong Pyeong

Happy New Year!!!! Again! Korea celebrated the Lunar New Year last weekend, and while all the Koreans went home to their families, Ali and I headed to the mountains in Gangwang-do to Yong Pyeong Ski Resort. We heard that this was the best place to ski in Korea and it was, people, IT WAS!!!!

We got picked up by the bus at 5:25 Saturday morning, promptly fell asleep, and woke up just outside of ther resort to at least 2 feet of snow. It was like falling asleep and waking up to a magical winter wonderland. The resort was equally as magical, with little rustic cottages and lodges tucked in the mountain, pine trees draped with a snowy lining, rolling hills covered in white, and ski slopes running all through the mountain.

I’m definitely getting better at skiing, but definitely not getting better at staying un-sore. Wow. After day one, I felt like I had been crushed by a giant snow plow, and after day 2 I was afraid I had done irreparable damage. Seriously in pain. But I managed a few runs down some blacks (this sounds like the highest level, but there were, in fact, double blacks, so don’t over-estimate my ability) and learned to carve to the right with something that I would almost call confidence. (For some reason, I have the hardest time turning right....) And I only cried once. Ok, twice. First as I stood at the very edge of a very scary black, with Ali a few meters down telling me to take the plunge and me getting more and more paralyzed with each passing second. And then one more time on our last day when Ali spent the afternoon attempting to snow board, and I felt like I was physically incapable of putting my body through any more pain. And I cried because I felt like Ali was getting a head start and I didn’t think it was fair. It made a lot of sense at the time to be angry. I guess you had to be there.

Probably one of the coolest places I’ve ever been in Korea!!! To see the complete album, click here.