If you’re like, you want to experience life before you become too old to even hold in a fart. And, if that’s the case, you’re probably consistently scouring the internet for budget adventures that you can boast about to your friends and family – I highly recommend Elysian Ski Resort. I purchased a Trazy package for 60,000 KRW. It included Ski clothes, Ski equipment, and a Ski pass for 8 hours. However, the package did not include preserving my dignity, which you can read more about below.
Arriving at Elysian
Just two and a bit hours from Seoul this is a perfect day trip for you and some friends – Elysian Ski Resort. Now once we arrived, I had the confidence of a wolf on a sheep farm. I was expecting some relaxing slopes and beautiful views to get me going through the day.
However, that all had to wait. We were informed there was a bus coming every 30 mins to take future ski professionals to the resort. Unfortunately, this bus was intimidated by this up-and-coming Olympic Ski King and failed to pick us up. No matter. A brisk 15-minute walk was exactly what I needed to warm up my muscles to destroy the slopes of Elysian.
What greeted us as we arrived at Elysian were some massive daunting slopes that seemed to mock me with their steepness. We shortly showed our phones at the ticket kiosk and were given cards as our passes to the whole resort. I was then bequeathed some very professional-looking ski clothes and equipment. They could sense my aura of athleticism and confidence and wanted me to be dressed accordingly.
Hitting the Elysian Slopes….Literally
We scanned our passes and were in the thick of it. At the bottom surrounded by snow and everyone was itching to hit the slopes. What was next was an electrifying experience, waiting in a line for 20 minutes to get onto the beginner slopes.
Eventually, we were on an escalator of sorts that took us to the top of that slope. As it slowly moved us to the top, I started to feel a bit uneasy, my enduring confidence started to sway a little as I could see how steep even the beginner slope was. As we were at the top, we all congregated together and decided on a plan of action. What we thought of was a 4-minute crash course on how to slow down and eventually we would learn the turns ended up being quite difficult.
I clipped on my skis with a satisfying crack and I knew that once I hit the slopes my instincts would take charge and I would become one with the slope. I pushed forward with skis and I was off!
1 meter turned into 2 which turned into my legs not understanding the assignment at hand. I couldn’t slow down or aim. My body rocketed into the side of the hill and I was caressed by the safety nets while my legs were in the shape of a contortionist. Turns out that my blind confidence was there to bite me yet again. After a couple of hours of trying, failing, and nearly murdering 3 children, I decided to move onto a new slope.
Becoming a Pro
Directly opposite that slope that demolished me was a calmer emptier slope. Now, I had my prey. We all went on, I was last. I hit it, speed increasing every second, the wind rushing through my helmet and my confidence inflating like a balloon. Suddenly, I was too fast. However, I kept calm and I breezed past the lucky would-be victims. I sailed smoothly to the bottom. It seemed that this was going to be an easier adventure than previously thought.
We took the lift up to the same hill and planned to go onto another run. We got to the top, all ready to go, and one by one we left. I was left until second to last. My friend decided it would be great to film us all going down for memory’s sake. I went down, my legs crossed and my body fell, I smashed into the ground and my helmet left my head. As I turned around, I found my friend filming and laughing while he glided past. My confidence was broken and I was back to square one.
Nevertheless, I was not done. We ate some dinner in Elysian’s food hall and I got some liquid confidence. I was determined to finish up the hills. We went onto some tougher hills and I managed to crash on most of them.
Progress Report
By the end, I seemed to have improved. I only crashed in certain areas and the others seemed to stop crashing luckily. It was an exciting day. I was convinced I had bruised myself more than a banana in a fistfight, but a little bit of improvement is still an improvement. The slopes were varied and spacious so people could move past my body when I faceplanted. I would do it again. However, next time I plan to pay a bit extra and get a lesson so I can avoid eating snow and focus on skiing it.
Before you go skiing in South Korea, there are a few things you should prepare. Click Here for a list of things you should bring with you to ski resorts in Korea.
