Santoki's World

There are several possible places where you can ice skate here in Seoul. We went last week on Saturday to the Ice Rink in Mokdong….

Take the subway line 5 and get off at Omokgyo station, take exit no. 3 and go straight to the huge building with the green roof. It’s across a huge parking lot. You have to go around the parking lot to actually get to the ice rink. When we got there we were already kind of late because we had to wait for H. and also because I didn’t have lunch. So we went to have a hot choco at the subway station. When we arrived the lady at the entrance charged us only 7000 Won instead of the 4000 Won entrance fee & 7000 Won rental fee. That was really nice and I’d like to thank her. The thing is that the ice rink is closed for public after 6 p.m.

We got our skates (you should know your shoe size beforehand, mine is for example 255…) and then went to the rink. There are lockers right next to the rink and we could change our shoes and put them into the locker. Be prepared and take some 500 Won coins with you…

The skates are kind of old and not that often redone. I realized that on the ice. There are a lot of people, mostly children, on the ice and there are some security guards there who watch the hectic circling on the ice. They have whistles and every time they see someone doing something wrong they whistle. We went counterclockwise around the rink and if you’re not prepared to be pushed or having small kids crossing your way, then you’d rather choose not to go skating there.

The ice is redone every hour. You can also take classes there, there are shops there where you can also buy skates or have them overdone.

All in all the athmosphere was peaceful and relaxed. We really enjoyed the trip to the Mokdong Ice Rink and I guess this was not the only time we go ice skating. Especially L. as a former figure skater was happy to be on ice. And she really looked very comfortable on those skates. I really gonna miss her.

Of course there are other ice rinks. One of the better known is the one at Lotteworld in Chamshil. They remodelled the whole thing in order to serve the public better. The rink is embedded in the whole entertainment area. I don’t remember how much the fees were.

If you prefer a romantic one then you can go to the Hyatt Hotel in Itaewon. Apparently they turn their pool during the winter into an ice rink. I think that’s really a good idea. I haven’t checked it out yet but if I have a girlfriend I’m sure I’ll take her once to that place… unless she can’t skate at all…

There is also a temporary ice rink in front of City Hall. But that one is mostly closed for adults and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to children up to the age of 15 only. The smaller ones can be accompanied by their parents. So either you’re not yet 15 or you’re parent to a child. Otherwise you have to wait until 5 p.m.
From 5 p.m. till 10 p.m. it’s also open to adults. I guess because of the popular place it’s pretty crowded. It’s also smaller than the one in Mokdong. the good thing is that there is no entrance fee but apparently something for the rental of the skates.
If I have enough time I’d like to check out that place, too. It must be nice to skate in that area with all the skyscrapers around the rink. I still remember also the place from my very first visit to Korea. That was a very different time in history…

Last week I went to the Jisan Skiresort (http://www.jisanresort.co.kr).

Thanks to a friend of my roommate we could get a some stuff for free… for example the rental of the equipment was free (skis, boots, boards). We also got a free dinner.

In the morning we met D.W. in Kangnam where he was waiting and he drove us to the ski resort which is approximately 1 1/2 hours south of Seoul. On the way we also had a small snack at a stop and then went on to the ski resort.

Once we got there we went to a condo close to the slopes where a friend of D.W. was working and could change out clothes. Then we went to the slopes and got our equipment there.

Since we were kind of late we decided to get a ticket from noon on. With that one we could ski also in the evening until 23.30h. We then went on the slopes, the boarders, F., D. and D.W. went to the beginner’s slope for boarders and I went to the skilift since I’m still skiing…

The slopes were pretty well prepared, all artificial snow but they were all kind of very short. So I had to wait in line for the lift (about 10 – 30 min.), then the lift took me up the hill in about 5 min. and then 2 min. fun downhill…

The snow was ok although it’s different to ski on artificial snow… and also the rental skis were not up-to-date of course. And I was also out of shape since my accident in 2003.

In the afternoon when some jets roared across the blue sky I almost felt like in Tschiertschen. There the mountains are of course much higher (they deserve the name “mountain”). But at least it was kind of a good feeling for a short moment.

Being by myself I mostly enjoyed skiing and I love skiing very fast… the short skis were sometimes a little difficult to handle at high speed. Next time I should request longer skis than the ones I had.

The boots were the kind where you step in and close in the back of your calf. My problem is always that I’d like to bend my knees more than the skiboots would allow. I think I have to invent a new pair of skiboots…

The result of those very stiff and long skiboots is that I can’t put all the pressure I’d like on the skis. And the weight is more on the rear part of the skis instead of the front part. That influences the character of the skis and their behaviour in the curves, of course. The better you can put pressure on the edges the nicer you can go through the curves. The whole game of balance is of course very important when it comes to sweeping down the slopes…

Anyway.. around 16.30h the slopes were closed and redone for 1 1/2 hours. Then the slopes reopened with floodlight. It was the first time I did do nightskiing with floodlights. Back in Switzerland we usually had our torch-lit downhill excursions which were quite romantic (I can recommend it for couples… ).

After 19 runs with the “blue” skilift we then went home.

Thanks to D.W. for his generous invitation. I really enjoyed skiing!!!