Day 344: Supposed Former Skiing Junkie

Another weekend...another road trip!

It's been more than three months since our last road trip, which is far too long if you ask me! And so, to remedy that dire situation, Michael and I went away for the weekend with Nick & Angele (I almost wrote Nick & Jessica there, man I gotta quite watching crap reality shows on TV here!) We decided that a ski trip, actually, sounded like the best idea, and so we did just that.

We woke up bright and early at 6am and before we knew it the four of us were on our way out of the city. I was excited about skiing but a little nervous too. The last time I skiied was when I lived in Thunder Bay, so we're talking 1997 as the most possible recent time. Eight years ago? Wow that's a long time ago! I was a half-decent skiier back in the day but then again I was a teenager then... Here's hoping I don't kill myself on the slopes today!

There's a plethora of ski hill choices here in Korea for us to choose from. Given the fact that approximately 70% of Korea is covered in mountains, it should come as no surprise that there are more than two dozen ski resorts in this tiny country. Phoenix Park was our destination today, but not before picking up some gear first.

About two and a half hours later we arrived at the base of PP, and popped into one of the many rental places first. One of the great things about skiing in Korea is that it's so bloody cheap! For a complete skiing set - ie: skis, boots, poles, a ski jacket, and snow pants, the whole gettup - for *two days* - only cost me about $45! And we had a coupon for the lift tickets so that only set us back about $45 too for a whole day of skiing. Right on!

I was quite nervous as we rode up that gondola up the mountain, but the fresh air and beautiful mountain scenery helped to calm me down a bit. It was an absolutely perfect weekend weather-wise - today's high was around 5 C or so! Well during my first run down the mountain, I quickly realized two things. Firstly, I'm a lot rustier than I thought I would be! And secondly, holy fuck are the ski hills here ever crowded!!!

I really shouldn't be surprised about the latter, cause *everything* in Korea is crowded, but it still made for quite a challenge. Considering my body's poor remembrance of supposed former skiing skills, I would have liked to have focused more on trying to improve, but instead it was a constant battle not to collide with anyone else on the hill. There was only one Bunny Hill at this resort so every frickin' newbie skibee was out on the hill slipping and sliding all over the place. So many times I nearly collided with another skiier or goddamn snowboarder, or more often, actually, was nearly effectively taken out by hurtling out-of-control skiiers/boarders falling down the mountain at Mach 4.

And the line-ups for the chairlift/gondola - Wow! It was far worse than you can possibly imagine, almost as bad as the line-ups to get into Canadian Tire in Thunder Bay on a Saturday morning, or a queue for free Lululemon yoga gear at a new outlet in Vancouver. ;-)

Despite the crowds, I had an amazing day! Skiing was scary but a helluva lot of fun. And it was just so great to be outside the city, out in the fresh air all day long. I was disappointed with my rustiness, but that just gives me another excuse to hit the slopes again sometime soon. I don't know how long the ski season lasts in Korea but I'd like to go a couple more times before spring anyway.

The six of us (Nick & Angele had two other friends who had met us at the resort) spent the night in a fairly cheap Love Motel and we hit the hay not long after dinner. Phew! A day out on the slopes sure can wear out a boy!