The Alpensia Resort ( ko, 알펜시아 리조트) is a ski

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

and a tourist attraction. It is located on the territory of the township of Daegwallyeong-myeon, in the county of

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

Overview

The ski resort is approximately 2.5 hours from Seoul or Incheon Airport by car, predominantly all motorway. From Seoul Cheongrangri KTX station (NE Seoul) as well as Seoul KTX station 1 and half hour KTX Jinbu station newly-opened from Feb. 22, 2017 exclusively-built for PyeongChang 2018. There are purple ski shuttle buses to the resort 3 or 4 times a day. Alpensia has six slopes for skiing and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

, with runs up to long, for beginners and advanced skiers, and an area reserved for snowboarders. While the resort is open year-round, the off-season turns the bottom of the slopes into a wild flower garden estimating 100,000-square meters. When the ski and snowboarding season opens, all runs are serviced by chairlifts and are named: Alpha (beginner), Bravo (beginner/intermediate), Charlie, Delta, Echo and Foxtrot catering for intermediate ability. All slopes are closed between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm each day for piste-maintenance. Night skiing is available from 6:30 pm to 10 pm. Alpensia is a 5–10-minute car ride to the more extensive Yongpyong Ski Resort which has a full range of runs. In the resort village are three main accommodation providers - Intercontinental Hotel, Holiday Inn Hotel, and Holiday Inn Suites. The

Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre (알펜시아 스키점프 경기장) is a ski jumping hills located at Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They hosted the ski jumping and the nordic combined events during the 2018 Winter Olympics. They al ...

is located within the station and was the location of the ski jumping events of the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. Alpensia was the focus of the 2018

Cultural Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...

, with a new, purpose-built

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

within the resort as well as an indoor water park.

History

The decision to build Alpensia resort was taken in 2003, in the frame of the ambition of the Gangwon Province to host the Winter Olympics. The resort was built on vacated farmlands and potato fields. The facility was completed in 2011. In 2013, Alpensia Resort was one of the venues of the

2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games The 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games ( ko, 2013년 동계 스페셜 올림픽 세계대회, 2013-nyeon Donggye Special Olympics Segye Daehoe) was a Special Olympics, a multi-sports event that was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from Janu ...

. In 2021, the resort's convention center, Alpensia Convention Center, was used as a filming location for ''

Loud Loud most commonly refers to: * Loudness, the subjective quality of sound of great intensity Loud may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Loud'' (Half Japanese album), 1981 * ''Loud'' (Rihanna album), 2010 * ''Loud'' (Timo Maas album), 2001 * ...

'', where remaining contestants went there for the second round.

2018 Winter Olympics

The Alpensia Resort has been the focus of the outdoor sports of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The venues are the following: *

– Ski jumping, Nordic combined *

Alpensia Biathlon Centre Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre (알펜시아 크로스컨트리 경기장) and Alpensia Biathlon Centre (알펜시아 바이애슬론 경기장) are sport venues in the Alpensia resort, located in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangw ...

– Biathlon * Alpensia Nordic Centre – Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined * Alpensia Sliding Centre – Luge, bobsleigh and skeleton In addition, Alpensia is the location of an

Olympic Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

and the nearby Yongpyong Ski Resort will be the venue for alpine skiing technical events (

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

and

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

). The speed events of

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

, super-G, and

combined Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...

will be held at

Jeongseon Alpine Centre Jeongseon Alpine Centre (정선 알파인 경기장) was an alpine skiing area in South Korea. It was located on the slopes of the mountain of Gariwangsan, in Bukpyeong-myeon in the county of Jeongseon. Overview Jeongseon was a venue for the Pye ...

, currently under development. After the Olympics, Alpensia Resort also hosted the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

Financial problems

In 2012, it was announced that Alpensia Resort was threatened by bankruptcy, having accumulated losses of $55 million annually. Although this has been denied by

Kim Jin-sun Kim Jin-sun (Korean: 김진선, hanja: 金振兟; born November 10, 1946) is a former governor of Gangwon Province, South Korea, and former president of the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Organizing Committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics which was ...

from the POCOG in January 2013, the financial problems had not improved as of September 2013. Some Gangwon Congress members insisted on selling Alpensia before it was too late. Others argued either to request financial support from the government or to withdraw from the acceptance of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

References

External links

* {{2018 Winter Paralympic venues Ski areas and resorts in South Korea Venues of the 2018 Winter Olympics Tourist attractions in Pyeongchang County Sports venues in Pyeongchang County