Its South Korea

[SkiDork]

Hosting 2018 Winter games

 

[thetrailboss]

They have skiing there? :blink:

 

[wa-loaf]

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/43653033/ns/sports-olympic_sports/

Yeah, I had no idea there was skiing there.

 

[Watatic Skier]

Also read that Half-Pipe and Park skiing will be in the 2014 games.

 

[wa-loaf]

http://www.seoulkoreaasia.com/skiing.htm

 

[from_the_NEK]

They have skiing there? :blink:

Kind of...

http://www.yongpyong.co.kr/eng/ski/overview.asp

http://www.j2ski.com/asian_ski_resorts/South_Korea/Yongpyeong.html

This looks to be the nearest resort. Max vert I can figure is 2200' but with a lot of runout/flat spots. Not sure how they are going to have the men's downhill there.

 

[snowmonster]

Yes, they have skiing there. They are a northern Asian country. Look at a map. Every Korean student I've had is a snowboarder.

The US has a longstanding rivalry with South Korea in Olympic ice skating. Apolo Ohno is not popular in Seoul because of an incident at the SLC Olympics. When the US played South Korea in the World Cup, the Koreans celebrated their goal by mimicking ice skater movements on the pitch.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Yes, they have skiing there. They are a northern Asian country. Look at a map. .

"Northern" is very relative in this case. At a little less than 38 degrees north. This area is as far north as Southern Colorado with 5000 foot mtns (granted a couple over 6000 but they don't ski on those).

Granted speed skating is huge in Korea but a short track (pretty much an ice hockey sized sheet of ice) can be built anywhere.

That doesn't answer the question about how they will stage an adequate men's downhill.

Nagano, Japan was a bit farther south but with 8000+ foot mountains.

 

[lolkl]

In the opening scenes of M.A.S.H. you can see ski trails in the backround.

 

[Mapnut]

Here's a "virtual" ski area travelogue I did on Korea a couple of years ago. http://www.snowjournal.com/page.php?cid=topic14667 Might give you some of the flavor of it. There are at least three new resorts that have opened since I wrote that. I agree that Yongpyong can't accommodate a downhill; they will probably develop a new mountain, of which there are plenty, like the Japanese did for 1972.

 

[thetrailboss]

Interesting. I bet that SKI/SKIING will have articles about skiing in "Korea" as they call it there.

 

[deadheadskier]

What is the minimum vert for an FIS mens downhill course? 2500 feet?

 

[Puck it]

Interesting. I bet that SKI/SKIING will have articles about skiing in "Korea" as they call it there.

They did have an article a couple years ago. Pretty funny. The article basically said that you take your life in your hands skiing there.

 

[deadheadskier]

Honestly,

I'm surprised they got the bid with how crazy Kim Jong has been lately. I know they had the Summers recently, but it's still a pretty volatile region.

 

[Puck it]

[FONT=Arial,Italic]

Men's Courses​

[/FONT]

For Olympic Winter Games, FIS World Ski Championships, FIS World
Cups and FIS Continental Cups
- 800 m (in exceptional cases 750 m, for Continental Cups 650 m) -
1100 m.
For all other FIS races:​

- 500 m - 1100 m (Junior 700 m)

 

[thetrailboss]

Honestly,

I'm surprised they got the bid with how crazy Kim Jong has been lately. I know they had the Summers recently, but it's still a pretty volatile region.

Wonder if he will make a [secret] appearance? At the very least he will watch it on his flatscreens...assuming he is still alive then....

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

The one thing about YongPyong Ski Resort (where alpine events will be held) is that it only gets 90 inches of snow a year. I am guessing they probably have plenty of cold and may have to depend on snowmaking. Although I guess if it is stable cold with little to no rain during it's winter months 90 inches of snow is plenty. Especially considering powder is the last thing they want. The harder the pack the better.

 

[bigbog]

They have skiing there? :blink:

Does NOT matter TTB.....the Olympic Committee can get the $$$...and will see to it that S.Korea creates a history of the sport. I just can't wait for the new Korean Airlines commercials.... ....LOL.

 

[Mapnut]

I found a web site which explains where the various venues are: http://www.pyeongchang2018.org/language/eng/sub01/sub01_02_01.asp The jumping, biathlon and cross-country are at "Alpensia" (Koreans do like to make up English words), which is next door to the Yongpyong resort, which is where the slalom and giant slalom will be. Yongpyong has 2,300 vertical feet but only one top-to-bottom run! Altitude 2500 to 4800 feet. Freestyle and snowboard events will be at Phoenix Resort (altitude 2100 to 3400 feet). Downhill and Super-G will be at Jungbong, which I assume hasn't been built yet. I can't find a town of that name on Google Earth; it seems to be about 20 miles southwest of Yongpyong. G.E. pictures of Yongpyong and Phoenix below.

http://www.snowjournal.com/page.php?cid=galimg30992
http://www.snowjournal.com/page.php?cid=galimg27470

 

[from_the_NEK]

As far as I can tell "Jungbong" is going to be built on this mountain:

(The named point is my own private one in Google Earth)

Looks to be on this mountain just outside (north) of Najeon.

The peak on the right in the second image is 4650' at teh summit with a base at 1400' in those farm fields for a max vert of 3250'. Having that river right there should provide plenty of water for snow making.