Pyeongchang Winter Wonderland

A famous scene, the top of Rainbow Lift at the peak of Yongpyong Resort

Long time readers of my blog will know that I've become a bit of a ski addict here in Korea over the past four years. This is my third year with a season pass to Yongpyong Resort. I've spent the past four weekends skiing and I'll probably ski just about every weekend until the end of March. For New Year's, we spent three nights and four days staying at a condo at the base of the mountain, and over those four days, it was amazing to see the diference in conditions from day to day. Temperatures varying from 0˚~ -18˚C, bluebell clear days to nearly white out conditions at the summit, bare trees to "눈꽃" ('snow flowers' made by encrusting trees with snow), extreme wind to relative calm. Here are some photos taken between Dec. 29th, 2012- Jan. 1st, 2013.

Too cloudy to bother using the binoculars at the summit of Yongpyong

A view from the base of Rainbow in Yongpyong, Rainbow 1, 2 and 3 in order from left to right. All are either black diamonds or double black diamonds. 

A popular tourist spot at the top of the gondola ... empty on this day due to the snow?

My boyfriend, prepared to be exposed to extreme temperatures

Me, midway down Rainbow 1, my favorite slope

The temperature reading at 9:50am on January 1st. -11˚C at the base of Yongpyong

Skis at the summit

Snow on January 1st, which then led to the worst traffic we've ever seen to return home to Seoul...

Pasture land between Hoenggye and Jinbu, a popular sledding area for kids as well

For more posts about this area, which will host the Special Olympics this year and the 2018 Winter Olympics, please see my other posts about the area.