Winter in Pyeongchang

Having just summer and summer all year round in Singapore, we wanted to try as many winter activities as we could in Pyeongchang.

Ice Fishing

WJ and I had never fished prior to this, so we didn’t know what to expect. But we were hoping to catch a fish or two, and bring it over to a nearby restaurant to grill for our lunch as a reward.

Along the way to the fishing grounds, there were a few ice sculptures. After posing for a couple of photos and playing around, it was time to get serious.

Ice fishing requires patience – a lot of patience.

We hooked the sparkly bait at the end of a thin fishing line and attached it to our mini rod, dropped it into one of the holes in the fishing grounds and waited.

And waited, and waited, and waited.

Sadly, after waiting for about an hour or so, we didn’t get a single bite. Around us, the other groups were not experiencing success too.

We decided to pack up. No grilled fish for us!

But we hit the street food stalls near the entrance for some snacks as a consolation.

Skiing

This was my second time skiing, and WJ’s first try. My very first time was coincidentally in South Korea with my family a couple of years back, and I took the ski lift up the slopes with my sister and skied down several times.

This trip, none of our friends (and WJ) we were on the trip with wanted to take the ski lift up. So we walked up the slopes to ski down a tiny distance before it was back to trudging up. As you can see below, it was energy-sapping and WJ managed to sweat through two layers of clothing.

We treated ourselves to delicious fried chicken after.

Snowboarding

Snowboarding was apparently easier to pick up than skiing, as told to us by several random people. Not being the most skilled at skiing, we decided to test if snowboarding really was easier.

It’s not.

I had some trouble locking the boots in place and steering in the direction I intended. But I also get why people say it’s easier – because both your feet are both secured on the same board, there isn’t a chance of both your legs going in different directions and forcing you into a split.

Getting into a snowfight

One of our friends brought a device for making snowballs for her kid so it would save some time making them.

Funnily, the snow was too compact and hard where we were as there wasn’t fresh snow in the few days we were in Pyeongchang. It was too difficult for the little kid to make the snowballs, so we adults took turns helping.

Then, of course, it was time for an epic snowfight!

Building a snowman-thing

Since there wasn’t fresh snow in Pyeongchang, building a snowman was challenging.

So we mad e a snow-thing instead. I think it looks quite cute.

Exploring the area

We stayed at Alpensia Ski Resort, and it seemed like a popular resort with plenty of people.

When we weren’t trying our hand at winter activities, we explored the area and it was pretty serene.