My Korean Life #42: Ski trip to Phoenix Park

Ski trip to Phoenix Park

Peak elevation: 1050m / 3444.882 ft

Skiing and snowboarding, amongst other outdoor activities, are quite popular in Korea as the majority of the country is covered in mountains. I had traveled to Korea quite a few times before moving here and up until this year, had not experienced skiing in Korea. This past weekend, along with a group of 9 others, I ventured to Phoenix Park - a ski resort about 2.5 hours drive outside of Seoul. We traveled via a bus package which included a bus to and from the resort from Seoul, lift ticket, ski rental, and clothing if needed. Overall, the experience was convenient and enjoyable! I'll go into detail below.

We opted for a night skiing package which had a bus pick us up from the Sinchon (신촌) area in Seoul at 6:40PM sharp (The bus was literally pulling away from the curb at this time). You were free to bring along baggage and your own equipment if you wanted to. The ride to the resort was uneventful and a lot of people napped or simply looked at the Korean countryside as we went to the resort. Upon arrival, a resort staff member scanned our digital tickets and we were free to head towards the main area. Entering the main lodge, the equipment rental/locker area was to our left, main bathroom and shops directly in front and a convenience store to our right. On the second floor was the walk out to the slopes as well as the large cafeteria area and access to some other equipment shops on the right. 

We arrived a little after 9:00PM and were able to get our lift tickets and rental equipment at 9:30PM. One thing to note, a small deposit is needed for your lift ticket which works with a contactless technology. Return your lift ticket to the desk on the second floor to receive your deposit back at the end of skiing. For equipment rental, an ID card is used as collateral and before going to the rental pick up desk, be sure to fill out the back of the ticket that indicates your height/weight/binding setting/etc. 

For those that wish to rent ski clothes, head to the shops that are near the main bathroom areas. Goggles and helmets are also available for rent at 5000KRW. Lockers are available for 1000KRW and there are change machines located at the end of the locker rows. Be warned, once you open the locker after you lock it, you have to pay again to lock it again. After getting all our gear and placing things into lockers, we hit the slopes!

During night skiing not every slope is open but there weren't many people there so lift lines moved quite quickly. If you look at the Phoenix Park Slope Map the following lifts were open: Penguin, Eagle, Sparrow, Condor (at least if my memory serves me right, Hawk might have been open). After warming up on the Penguin run, a few of us went to the top and did various runs from the peak. The expert run that was open was just steep at times and there weren't really any bumps or moguls (although there was one mogul run that we saw but did not attempt). The snow wasn't the best but also wasn't the worst either. There were some icy patches but nothing that got in the way of having a good time. Below are some pictures I shot while out and about:

Top of the peak looking over the start of an expert run

Gondola station...nice name

Small park featuring a windmill at the peak 

Rental skis - not bad!

Bottom of the resort area right outside the main lodge 

Entrance to the main lodge building from the ski area

Resort hotels in the background

We took a break around 1AM to have a snack. The indoor cafeteria was closed but there were many snack stalls outside the main lodge and also the convenience store was open. I personally enjoyed a toast sandwich while others had ramen, hot dogs, waffles, chicken, and other snacks. The prices were slightly inflated as it is a ski resort but if you want the most bang for your buck, probably the convenience store has the best prices. I heard a big instant cup ramen was only 1500KRW at the convenience store while another food stand was selling something similar for more than double the price.

Snack Stalls and Ski Racks

After eating and some time inside to warm up, a lot of us went back out for a few more runs before closing time (4AM). One cool thing I like about this resort is that they have compressed air to clean off yourself and your gear right outside the main door to the lodge! This was the first time I had seen this feature although my friend said that other places have the air guns as well. I've put a picture of these below.

Compressed air to blow the snow off yourself and your gear!

The bus departed for Seoul at 4:40AM sharp so at 4AM we hurried and returned all our ski gear and changed clothes. Our group leader gathered all of our lift tickets and got our group deposit back. The lot where all the buses park was packed but luckily ours had 신촌 written in the window. By the way, bus seats are not assigned so if you want a certain seat, best to arrive early. The ride back to Seoul was uneventful and a lot of us slept the whole way. Back in Seoul, I enjoyed breakfast at McDonald's before walking home.

The whole package deal was a good bargain in my opinion as the resort is running specials with deep discounts for certain times but I'm not sure how long these will last. To book the package deals you must be able to read Korean or navigate through the booking process in Korean. There are a variety of packages to choose from.

Official links to the Phoenix Park website, weather report by Naver, and Facebook are below as well as embedded maps and a video of their ski school. The package information and other resort information can be found on their website - not all the same information is found on the English version of their website so I advise looking at the Korean one as well. I hope this post is more informative and engaging for you as I improve my blogging capabilities. Stay tuned for more!

Phoenix Park Official Website
Phoenix Park Weather (Naver Korea)

Click the map to go to Daum Maps

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