Skiing and ski resorts in Seoul, South Korea

Skiing is becoming more and more popular in South Korea, with new resorts being built all the time and this is not a surprise, considering that 70% of South Korean territory is occupied by mountains. At the moment there are 13 skiing resorts in South Korea, all very close to Seoul (the furthest are located at about 4 or 5 hours drive from Seoul) with buses available to connect Seoul with most skiing resorts. Most South Korean skiing resorts have good facilities with plenty of accommodation options, restaurants, shops and various entertainments. All resorts have snowmaking machines, so that the skiing season can last for a long time.

Skiing resorts in South Korea

The biggest skiing resort in South Korea is Yongpyong ski Resort, located at the foot of Palwang Mountain, about 200 km east of Seoul, at 700 – 1500 metres of altitude. Yongpyong Resort is currently one of the candidates in the bid for 2014 Winter Olympics.

Second best is Mujiu skiing resort, Korea, located in Mount Deokyu National Park, about four hours drive from Seoul. Muji resort has good facilities and outdoor hot springs.

Other South Korean skiing resorts include:

Other winter activities and winter festivals in South Korea

If you would like to do some activities in winter in Korea, other than skiing, there are some good hot spring facilities and winter festivals throughout South Korea.

Korean hot springs and thermal centres

There are various hot springs in South Korea around which leisure centres and wellness facilities have been built. These hot spring centres have indoor and outdoor hot pools with spring water, facilities such as sauna, massage, mineral mud treatments and some of them also have water parks, in order to entertain all the family. Spa and hot spring Korean centres that also offer a water park are: Asan Spavis, Icheon Spa Plus, Sorak Waterpia, Bugok Hawaii, Sorak Aquaworld and Danyang Aquaworld.

South Korean Winter Festivals

In South Korea, in winter, several festivals take place involving a lot of sport activities and competitions. Sports include traditional Korean as well as modern sports (i.e. ice skating, snow sledding and soccer on ice) and fishing through a hole in the ice on frozen lakes. Fishing takes places during The Inje Icefish Festival on Soyangho Lake, Gangwon-do Province, and during Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival Around Hwacheon Stream in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon-do, both usually held in January.
Other Korean winter festivals are: Daegwallyeong Snow Festival in Yongpyong Resort and Taebaeksan Snow Festival in Taebaeksan Provincial Park in Gangwon-do. Finally, there are also two winter swimming contests in South Korea: Polar Bear Swimming Contest in Haeundae Beach in Busan and Seogwipo Penguin Swimming Festival in Jungmun Beach in Seogwipo, Jeju-do.