South Korea Voyage: SKIING

(Note: no pictures to post because they are all of our faces and ‘peace’ fingers. No skiing action to be seen.)

Before I went for the trip, I conducted a mini-check with my friends on skiing and their thoughts about it. One friend was adamant that skiing is not a fun or ‘natural’ sport. By ‘natural’, she actually meant that it the ski boots is not made for human wear as it is fixed so tightly that it ‘cuts’ into your shin so when you are heading down a slope, it will hurt a whole lot. For her, it was her first-and-the-last time. Another friend of mine found it fun but terribly difficult to pick up. She spent one whole day just learning it and could only really enjoy it on the second day. Then I did a little online reading and that found out that if you are not careful, you can easily break your legs. WHAT? I was filled with trepidation because (1) it is an ‘unnatural’ sport, (2) that fact made true by the easy breaking of legs and (3) it is very difficult to learn. However, as worried as I am, I decided to give it a try and to do it as slowly and as carefully as I can. It is fine if I do not pick it up fast or at all, as long as I come out of it unscathed and hopefully, with both my legs intact.

We booked our skiing experience at Daemyung Resort Vivaldi Park Ski World. If you just want to ski, then I would recommend it because the slopes are beautiful and I supposed not as crowded as Yongpyong would be (just guessing here as I have never been to Yongpyong). But the hotel that we stayed in seemed to have been left behind in time, in the sense that the furnishings our room is not updated and looked like it belongs to the 70s. The furniture; beds, cupboards, cabinets, tables for eating and sofas, are old-fashioned and are decked in gaudy colours.The toilet features a plastic bathtub that is connected to the plastic sink on a plastic counter that is also connected the toilet bowl. It is a fully customized toilet. The worst is that everything is made in salmon pink plastic! SALMON PINK! PLASTIC! This is about the gaudiest of toilets as it gets. The other thing about the toilet is that it is made for tiny people because it is just short! Everything is lower than average, even the toilet bowl. I am of average height (not taller or shorter than the normal Korean) and I have to double over to wash my hands. I really wonder which era this toilet came from. Thankfully though, despite its antiquated furnishings, the room and toilet is clean. So no real complains, just the decor.

The resort is about one hour away from Seoul, but there were a lot of delays caused by snow-covered roads. A pick-up service was arranged for us by our tour provider (Winter Friend - http://www.winterfriend.com/) but the van was a little too tiny and cramp for the six of us. It also got stuffy after a while and everyone was feeling uncomfortable. Not only that, almost all of us were down with food poisoning due to something we have eaten.  Not to boast, but I am the only one intact and I was getting worried that we will not be able to go skiing at all! As much as I am afraid of skiing and its impending danger, I do not want to miss my chance in trying it too! Now I am actually more fearful of missing than doing it.

However, my fears were allayed as I guess everyone does not want to miss it too. So despite their weak conditions, they put on their game face and bravely headed out. I was so thankful. So we went to meet our driver who was patiently waiting for us at the lobby. He was a spritely elderly, short but fit, wrinkled with grey hair coupled with a vigorous disposition. He is also generous with his smile, which is friendly and somewhat mischievous. I figured he was in his sixties. He used to be a ski instructor and he now runs a ski shop that loans and sells ski wear and gear. So we piled onto his rickety old van and went to his shop. Once there, we were assisted by him and his wife to outfit ourselves with ski pants, ski jacket, ski gloves, ski boots, ski poles and a pair of skiing blades (my own ski terms as I am not sure what the equipment are really called). It was a flurry of activities and us being newbies, we had no idea what to do. So we were being hustled around and did as we are told. Finally we were all properly outfitted and geared and we headed back to the ski resort. Once there, we met with our ski instructor, Jason. He is probably the first Korean guy that I have seen that is tan (comparably tanner than his fellow snow-white counterparts), does not have smooth unblemished tofu skin for his face, has a little beard-growth going on and is taller than most. At least we have an authentic-looking skiing instructor. I cannot imagine a tofu teaching us how to ski.

Once there, we changed from our winter boots to the ski boots in the locker room. Then we had to drag our ski poles and blades out. They are very heavy equipment. Once out, we headed to the learner’s/beginner’s slope which is already filled with enthusiastic kids and fearful learner adults like us.

From a distance (e.g. my room in the hotel), I could not even discern a slope there. It looks like flat ground with a very gentle incline at the end. But when I am standing right below the slope, I could tell that it is fairly high, especially for a beginner like me.

The instructor taught us the basics on flat ground first. I can do almost everything he taught us, even the falling down simulation. The one thing that I cannot do, to my chagrin, is to get up after falling down. There is a technique to it, but it seems that my arms are too weak to push or prop up my heavy body, so I cannot get up at all. I am mortified. The instructor tried helping me up but I kept falling back down. After about a few tries did he managed to lift me up (embarrassing to know that even he cannot lift me up) and I promised myself never to fall while skiing.

But my promise was broken the minute we took the gondola to the top of the mountain. Before you get on the gondola, you will be standing at this platform, positioned and ready for the gondola to come and ‘scoop’ you up. Once seated, you pull the safety bar down and up you go. The gondola stops for nobody. So once you’re almost at the top, you lift the safety bar up and position your ski blades to receive the slope that is at the end of the ride. Like I said, the gondola does not stop and will keep going in circles up and down transporting skiers. I guess it is the fact that the gondola continues moving that made me nervous. Once nervous, I cannot concentrate and my muscles go lax. Once my muscles are lax everything just went haywire (fortunately no pants-wetting happened). So instead of skiing down that little slope gracefully, I went splat on my back with my legs folded behind. Can you picture the acrobatic position I just pulled? Nothing hurts because snow is soft, but my dignity was bruised and sore. I was also worried that other skiers are going to run over me when they arrive. Thankfully the young employees who were manning the gondola station were quick to help and each time they managed to pull me up in just one try. I wonder if my instructor was also as weak as I was or it is the fear of being sliced to death by ski blades that speeded up the recovery process. This happened twice before I got the hang of unloading myself from the gondola properly and gliding down like a pro. That is probably the most difficult thing to catch for me. My fellow companions have no problems getting off the gondola. Damnit.

Looking from the top of the slope is quite scary. Although it may not seem high from afar, it does seem like it is at least three-storeys high. Terrifying. The wind was blowing quite strongly, we are trying our best to keep our blades from leaving before us, our hearts are racing and we are just perspiring underneath those layers of clothes and ski wear. Our butts are clenched and we are trying hard to get our bladders to hold. Then we set off, trying not to get into each other’s path, avoiding other skiers, avoiding the sides and just generally trying to focus on reaching the bottom in one piece. It was exhilarating! I had a huge adrenaline spike, especially when trying to swerve left and right to avoid other skiers and when I reached the bottom I was crazily laughing my head off and craving to have another go. Everyone felt the same and this goes on till the sun sets, where we then had a mini break to eat and recharge before heading back to the slopes at night.

Honestly, I could do with another ski holiday; especially now that Singapore has acquired a blisteringly hot weather to kill us all.