A Series of Posts on Where to Ski in South Korea : Muju Deokyusan Resort
November 2nd, 2022
Muju Deokyusan Resort, or just Muju Resort is the only ski resort in southern region of South Korea. It boasts that the whole resort area was designed to harmonize with natural environment of Deokyu Mountain, making it look like an European resort.
Even though it is located in the southern part of Korea, it has perfect conditions to be a ski resort thanks to high peaks of the mountain and snowy weather in winter. So people from relatively warm regions of the south, such as Busan(the second largest city in South Korea), Daegu and Gwangju, visit the resort to ski in winter.
The resort was built in early 1990’s for bidding for Winter Olympics. It ended up that Korea couldn’t even try to bid for Olympic hosting because the financial crisis in 1997.
It is said that in the same year the owner of the resort, who got into financial trouble due to the national crisis, invited Michael Jackson to discuss about investment to the resort. After all Michael Jackson decided not to invest to the resort.
In early time the resort had been through challenges, but now it is among the top-tier Korean ski resorts.
1. Location
It is in Deokyusan National Park, Muju-gun, Jeollabuk-do. San means a mountain, so Deokyusan means Deokyu Mountain. It is a 3-hour driving distance from Seoul toward the south, two and half hours from Busan toward the northwest.
2. Slopes
Muju Deokyusan Resort has six ski slopes for beginners to professionals, called Silk Road, Raiders, Rookie Hill, Connection, Seoyeok Gihaeng(서역기행 trip to the west) and Freeway. The slopes are divided in two bases, Seolcheon Base and Manseon Base. Seolcheon base has only one course on a slope for beginners, so most of beginners go to Manseon Base which has two courses for beginners.
Freeway is only for the advanced and professionals, so there is a warning for beginners not to access the slope and even a lesson is banned on the slope.
3. Services and Facilities
Muju Deokyusan Resort is not only for winter sports but also other seasonal or all year round activities.
Other than facilities relating to ski, the resort also has the golf field, hiking tracks to peaks of the mountain, the tour gondola, Children World and the sauna. Children World has attractions for families with children, including water sleds(in summer), snow sleds(in winter), merry-go-round, Euro Bungee.
If you want to go to the peak of the mountain, 1,520 meters above sea level, and don’t want to climb the mountain on your own, you can ride the tour gondola. While riding the gondola you can see beautiful sceneries of the mountain. Seolcheon-bong, the peak is the arrival point and also the starting point to another peak, called Hyangjeok-bong. Hyangjeok-bong is the real high tip point of the mountain. It is a 20-minutes walking distance from Seolcheon-bong and the hiking trace is not that tough, so the course of riding the gondola to Seolcheon-bong and climbing up to Hyangjeok-bong is very popular, because you can get beautiful photos of nature and views from peaks easily, even though you are not a professional mountain climber. It is so popular that in peak time you could wait in the line for an hour to ride the gondola.
At the base camp on the Seolcheon-bong you can borrow climbing equipment including climbing irons. It could be quite slippery in winter.
This place has seasonal beauty all year round. Now it is in the middle of autumn with red and brown leaves and it will turns white soon being covered with snow, which means that it is worthwhile to visit anytime, not only in winter. Still to us the most beautiful time to go up to Seolcheon-bong is winter, because the scenery with white frost on trees is gorgeous. Tree branches covered with snow and frost on each side of the narrow track to Hyangjeok-bong will make you feel in the Disney animation movie, Frozen. It is super cold on the peak though.
4. Restaurants, Cafes and Stores
The representative restaurant in Muju Deokyusan Resort is Manseon Hansikdang, which is a huge Korean restaurant. It is in Manseon Base and various Korean foods are on their menu. Prices are good for a restaurant in a resort.
The resort also has a big food court, food vendors, cafes and convenient stores.
In Seolcheon-bong area, the destination of the tour gondola, is a huge site with various amenities including restaurants and cafes, where you can have meal or snack on the way to Hyangjeok-bong. The main restaurant supplies Korean foods and makgeoli, Korean traditional rice wine. Typically Korean mountain climbers enjoy makgeolli after finishing to climb down a mountain. I don’t know why exactly but I can only guess that makgeolli is made of rice, so it can be helpful to restore energy of your body, and mind as well. Makgeolli goes with jeon, Korean pancake well. The restaurant on the peak serves makgeolli and kimchi-jeon. Try it and you will like it.
5. Accommodations
Muju Deokyusan Resort has a hotel, condominiums and a youth hostel with various room types including ondol, Korean traditional room type. Normally families with children stay a room with a kitchen in a condominium or an ondol. It is said that part of rooms were remodeled recently. And the hotel has a suite room called Michael Jackson Room, where MJ stayed, but unfortunately the hotel is on the restoring construction due to fire in the last year.
First you have to go to the reception building called Welcome Center to check in and then move to the building where your room is, by a car or a shuttle.
Some rooms are right facing to the slope, so you can just go out to ski with your gear, and moreover you can see people who slide on the slope on the balcony. Parents like these rooms because they can watch their children skiing.
There are many local lodges outside of the resort. Many of them offer hot deals for lift tickets and gear rental. Among them is the brand new motel, Hucker Motel and Ski Shop, which is popular for its clean and large rooms and good services about skiing.
6. Other Information
Muju Deokyusan Resort is very huge that they supply shuttles for visitors to move between structures inside of the resort.
And many rental shops are outside of the resort where you can rent ski or snowboard equipment fully. They offer hot deals for lift tickets and accommodations, and shuttles to the resort as well.
And I really want to say about the place nearby the resort you must go. It is Taekwondowon It is the largest Taekwondo training center in the world and also a hot touristy place for tourists who want to experience taekwondo, like watching splendid Taekwondo performances and learning basic Taekwondo movement. To sum things up, Taekwondowon is the place all about taekwondo. If you have a chance to go to Muju Deokyusan Resort, don’t miss visit Taekwondowon.
- How to get Muju Deokyusan Resort
Besides getting the resort by a car, usually people use a bus service from the tour bus companies. You can book the bus via tour agencies for foreign tourists. Try to google it. From ski ticket, to equipment rental, accommodations and shuttles, they offer all-in-one packages with hot deals. Sometimes when only Alex and Min go to ski, they use those agencies.
- Other Ski Resorts in South Korea
Vivaldi Park in Hongcheon, Gangwondo
Monapark Yongpyong Resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwondo
Elysian Gangchon in Chuncheon, Gangwondo
High1 Resort in Jeongseon, Gangwondo
Phoenix Pyeongchang Snow Park in Pyeongchang, Gangwondo
Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang, Gangwondo
Welli Hilli Park in Hoengseong, Gangwondo