A Series of Posts on Where to Ski in South Korea : Monapark Yongpyong Resort

October 27th, 2022
Monapark Youngpyong Resort is the first ski resort in Korean History which was opened officially in 1975. Back in my childhood, skiing was a leisure sport only for the rich. At that time Yongpyong Resort was the only ski resort. Now we have several international class of ski resorts in South Korea and Yongpyong resort is still one of top Korean ski resorts. It is a historical ski resort, so to most of Koreans the name ‘Yongpyong’ sounds friendly and they have memories of the resort.
And many Korean TV dramas were filmed in the resort including Winter Sonata and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God(streamimg on Neflix).
First and foremost, Monapark Youngpyong Resort was one of venues of Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, which means that it was proven as a world class winter sports arena.
By the way Mona stands for ‘mother’ and ‘nature’.
1. Location
It is in Balwang Mountain, Daegwanryeong, Gangwon Province, two and half hours drive away from Seoul. When it comes to ‘Daegwanryeong’, it comes up in Koreans’ minds that it is an alpine region with the winding road going up to the very high peak. You can feel you are deafened like being on a flight when you drive on the road.
2. Slopes
Yongpyoung Resort has overall 28 slopes for beginners to professionals in four parts called Red Zone, Green Zone, Gold Zone and Rainbow Zone. In terms of the number of slopes, it is the best in Korea. 13 out of 28 slopes are validated by Fédération Internationale de Ski(FIS, International Ski Federation).

3. Services and Facilities
Dragon Plaza, the Yongpyong Resort‘s reception building is designed like a Korean traditional architectural style. It has ticket booths and kiosks for ticketing as well. And they supply gear rental and lessons. There are lockers, changing rooms, a convenience store, cafes and food vendors in the building.
Yongpyong Resort supplies a cable car tour to Balwang Mountain. While riding a cable car, you can see sceneries of slopes and mountains covered with white snow. At the peak there are photo zones, a skywalk and a Korean traditional tea cafe with message chairs which is so good to relax. And the filming site of the Korean TV drama, My ID is Gangnam Beauty. The round shaped tip-top of the skywalk spins 360 degrees, which makes you thrilled and gives the panorama view of mountains and the resort.
At night the Illumination is so beautiful. The resort is famous for its beautiful night scene with lights. So many people plan to spend Christmas and the New Year’s Day in Yongpyong to feel the mood of holidays.
In the underground mall there are restaurants, cafes, the arcade, the indoor playground for kids, the bowling alley, the billiard hall and so on.
Other than ski slopes, the most popular facility of the resort is the water park, Peak Island. After skiing, playing and relaxing in warm water absolutely feels great. The water park has sauna and jjimjilbang.
4. Restaurants, Cafes and Stores
Each buildings, the hotel, condominiums and Dragon Plaza has many restaurants and cafes. Especially there is a food court in Dragon Plaza, which is good to have snack or meal between skiing times.
There are also many good restaurants outside of the resort. We can recommend two places as below.
(1) 153 Shabu-Shabu Kalguksu
Shabu-shabu kalguksu is a combination of Shabu-shabu and the Korean traditional noodle, kalguksu. Basically many shabu-shabu restaurants supply kalguksu together in South Korea. After eating shabu-shabu, cook kalguksu in the leftover soup. That is the common way to eat shabu-shabu in South Korea.
It is a 5-minute driving distance away from the resort. The location of this restaurant is 278-18 Solbong-ro, Daegwanryeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do.
(2) Pyeongchang Hanwoo Maeul Daegwanryeong Branch
Mountain areas in Gangwon-do are well known for the Korean breed of cattle, Hanwoo(also Hanu, 한우). Many Koreans would recommend foreigners to eat grilled Hanwoo in Gangwon-do. On the first floor a variety of packs of Hanwoo meat parts are in the showcases. Pick up packs you want to eat, and pay for it, go up to the second floor, sit at the table and grill meat you bought on the table on your own. That is the way to eat Hanwoo there. You have to pay for using a table too.
This restaurant is a 10-minute driving distance away from Monapark Yongpyong Resort. The location is 5195-25 Gyeonggang-ro, Daegwanryeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do. They supply shuttles to the resort.
5. Accommodations
There is a hotel and condominiums from luxury suites to budget friendly rooms with a kitchen for a small group, and a hostel for a big group.
Interestingly they offer unmanned kiosk check-in and check-out which is a very convenient system in the pandemic era.
The hotel is closer to the Illumination site than condominium blocks, which is the most famous attraction in the resort.
Also you can find lodges outside of the resort. It would be a cheaper option.
6. Other Information
Around the resort are many rental shops and most of them offer all-in-one services which include equipment rental, lessons, hot deal of lift tickets and a shuttle to the resort.
Like other Korean major ski resort, Monapark Youngpyong Resort opens all year round not only in winter. They offer many seasonal services for people who stay the resort for holidays or summer vacation, like luge, MTB, the mountain coaster, the alpaca farm, etc. Especially walking and relaxing around its recreation forest would give healing time to people who are tired of their city life.
They have their own kimchi brand called Balwangsan Kimchi. Sometime we buy their kimchi. It tastes so good.
- How to get Monapark Youngpyong Resort
(1) By KTX(Korea Train Express)
You can use KTX Seoul to Gangneung. Take off at Jinbu Station and take the shuttle to the resort. The resort supply shuttles to the station.
(2) By using the special shuttle bus
There is the bus company specialized to travel from major downtowns in Seoul to ski resorts across Gangwon-do. To book the bus, you have to contact a ski tour agency. These tour agencies also offer hot deals for all kinds of services of the resort.
- Other Ski Resorts in South Korea
High1 Resort in Jeongseon, Gangwondo
Vivaldi Park in Hongcheon, Gangwondo
Elysian Gangchon in Chuncheon, Gangwondo
Muju Deokyusan Resort in Muju, Jeollabukdo
Phoenix Pyeongchang Snow Park in Pyeongchang, Gangwondo
Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwondo
Welli Hilli Park in Hoengseong, Gangwondo