NOTE: YANGJI PINE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Yangji Pine follows the standard Korean resort model, the small ski area being part of a much larger resort concept along with a golf course and a huge hotel/condo development. Despite the proximity to Seoul, access is a little tricky without your own vehicle (the resort has free shuttle buses which are an easy way to get back to Seoul, but a bit hard to arrange to get to the resort if you don’t speak Korean); Yangji Pine also has a bit less to offer from a riding perspective, so for international visitors Konjiam is the most convenient (and largest) option near Seoul while Jisan is the best choice if you want a decent terrain park.
Highest lifted point: 420m
Lowest skiable point: 220m
Vertical drop: 200m
Lifts: 6
Runs: 8
Longest run: 1.5km (‘Challenge Plus’)
Terrain park: no
In terms of the skiing on offer at Yangji Pine, it’s a mediocre hill with 200m of vert in theory, however the top chair is not in use as of the 2018/19 season which means run 7 and the top of run 6 are closed. When I visited in 2017 the top was still open, however between then and my subsequent visit in 2019 it had already overgrown this much:
That’s the top of run 6; furthermore, run 2 has been turned into a small waterpark and runs 5 & 9 were completely devoid of snow. Other signs of cost-cutting at Yangji these days are that they no longer run shuttle buses, and they now close at midnight rather than 2am. Given all this, I really can’t recommend Yangji unless you’re staying in the vicinity.
There’s also no terrain park at Yangji; if you specifically want to ride park, Jisan Forest is the best option in the vicinity of Seoul.
For beginners, the bunny hill (with bunny chair) looks like a good place to learn; intermediates will find enough for a reasonably satisfying half day, but advanced riders will have the whole hill skied out in under an hour.
How to get to Yangji Pine Resort
The best way is by free shuttle, but for international visitors this is hard to arrange as you have to make a booking on their homepage which requires you to register with a Korean ID – not to mention you’ll need to be able to read it! Update: Yangji Pine is no longer running shuttle buses; you need to use public buses or drive yourself.
The public transportation options aren’t great, and leave you with a long walk or a taxi ride. You can take a bus from the Nambu Bus Terminal (on Seoul Metro line 3) to the town of Yangji; when you get off, it’s a 40-minute walk or you can look for a taxi.
You get off at this stop:
It’s a small town and there isn’t much around, though there’s a bunch of random love motels on the way; when you get off the bus, keep going straight over the big intersection and follow that same road up past the love motels until you come to the Yangji Pine Resort sign, then turn right up the access road.
Walk past the motels:
The slopes come into view ahead & to the right:
And eventually you reach the access road:
(The first time I did this, as I was walking up the access road a passing car pulled over and gave me a ride, which saved me the last 10 minutes of a freezing cold walk; the friendly bloke driving didn’t speak much English, but he taught he how to say “f*** me it’s cold” in Korean, and then we listened to some Michael Jackson)
You don’t have to walk the entire way up though – from the same bus stop where you get off you can take bus number 10 or 11 up to the intersection with the access road (still a 20-minute walk from there though). The #10 & 11 buses originate from Yongin Bus Terminal, so alternatively you can take a bus or the Everline train to Yongin and the local bus (or taxi) to Yangji Pine Resort from there. It takes about 45 minutes from Yongin though, so this is only a good route if you can get to Yongin easily or if you’re coming from Everland theme park.
If you’re going to try one of these bus routes you should download the app KakaoMap and use that to work things out.
To head back to Seoul from Yangji town, wait for the highway bus at the exact same bus stop as where you get off (in the same direction). There’s a lottery ticket shop immediately behind the bus stop where you can buy a ticket (3000 won) as the driver won’t take cash.
It has to be said that due to the lack of a convenient way for non-driving independent visitors to get to Yangji Pine, nearby Konjiam is a better option (or go to Jisan Forest if you want to ride park – though be warned the access for Jisan is also a little long-winded)
For more Seoul area ski resorts, see here; for full reviews of every Korean ski resort, see here
Also check out the best Korean ski resorts according to various criteria, and this size comparison of Korea’s ski resorts using satellite imagery
Hi I am Amy from Malaysia. Can I know what is the star rating for this Yangji Pine Ski Resort. And also can I have the official website for the hotel in english version? Thanks!
Hi Amy, do you mean the star rating for the hotel? I’m not sure to be honest, but it’s not a luxury resort or anything like that. And I’m afraid there is no English website for the hotel – the links on this page are the only ones I’m aware of, and to book it you’ll need to call them. If that all seems too difficult but you’re wanting to book a ski resort hotel near Seoul, to be honest I think it’s probably better to go to Konjiam (it also has easier access). Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any more questions
Hi Simon,
we visited Yangji Pine Resort today in glorious weather. Useful tip: if you bring your foreign passport, you get 40% discount on your skipass and gear rental and 30% discount on lessons.
Currently the piste map as you show it is not quite accurate. The left-hand and highest ski lift is not operational and hence also the upper part of run 6 and 7. The second lift from the left is open, but run 5 and hence also 9 are closed. So, out of runs 5, 6, 7, and 9 currently only the lower 2/3 of 6 is open. The far right hand cable car is also closed and hence run 2 as well.
There was an enormous queue of school kids for beginners lift 1, otherwise no waiting on a Saturday.
Hope this helps,
Sibe.
Hi Sibe,
So you were there on Saturday? Funny, I was actually just there myself on Thursday! Haven’t had time to upload the pics & update the page properly yet. How did you get there? The lack of shuttle buses to get home was an unwelcome surprise, I had to walk back down to town to catch a highway bus.
Was my first visit since 2017, amazing to see how fast that unused bit of piste at the top of run 6 has become overgrown – that was completely in operation last time. Also as you noted, run 2 is no longer open now… if you look at the first picture on this page you can see it was in use then, but now it’s been turned into some sort of water park. Along with the fact they’ve completely stopped running shuttle buses, there’s a lot of signs of cost-cutting at Yangji. Looks like they’re struggling to compete with Konjiam & Jisan Forest; it’s still a popular golf resort, but it definitely seems like they’re deprioritising their ski operations. I was also at Bearstown & Konjiam last week and they’re clearly dong much better.
Anyway, thanks for the update, cheers!
Hi Simon,
It seems we have just missed eachother. If we would have been there on the same day we might actually have noticed each other, since I didn’t see any other non-Koreans (or perhaps non-Asians).
We have a car over here, so it’s a convenient half an hour drive from the Seongnam area (where we’ll be living, we haven’t quite settled in yet). Over the coming weeks we’ll definitely be checking out Konjiam and Jisan Forest – I’ll let you know if I come across anything that might be useful info.
Thanks – Sibe.
Haha yeah I’m yet to see another non-Asian foreigner at Yangji, though there’ve been large groups of Chinese-speaking, Thai, and Filipino tourists each time I’ve been.
Having a car is a big help – from Seongnam you’re probably only about 20 or 30 minutes from Konjiam. You’re also quite well-placed for Oak Valley and Vivaldi Park, should be able to hit either in under 90 minutes.
Haven’t been to Jisan yet this season, let me know what you make of it! Cheers
This is great information, thank you so much! Do you happen to know if that have ski/snowboard rentals at the hill, or is it similar to other ski resorts in Korea where you get the rentals from various shops around town? Also do you know if they have rentals for young children (3 year olds)?
Hi Chelsea, yes there are rentals at the resort, and also some independent rental shops on the road up. I’m not sure about gear for 3-year olds though, sorry
Hi Simon
I have a day off tomorrow and I want to go snowboard someplace. I am staying in Pangyo Seongnam , can you please recommend a better place to go then pineresort?
Thanks 🙂
Assaf
Hi Assaf,
Go to Konjiam, you have a direct train (blue line) from Pangyo to Gonjiam Station & then there’s a free shuttle bus from the station to the resort. See here for details
Yangji is not operating this winter.
Cheers mate, thanks for taking the time to comment and share information.