Alps Ski Resort (Goseong)
An abandoned South Korean ski resort near the DMZ, opened in 1976 as the country's second ski resort and closed in 2006.
- Region
- Gangwon Province
- Country
- South Korea
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1976
- Year closed
- 2006
- Reason for closure
- Competition from newer resorts closer to Seoul with better facilities, declining domestic interest in skiing, and the bankruptcy of the owner. The resort shut abruptly in 2006. A later rescue attempt failed too: the Korean investor Alps Seven Resort proposed an 80 billion won renovation, around 75 million US dollars, but missed its payment deadlines and the project was abandoned.
History
Alps Ski Resort stood at Heul-ri in Ganseong Township, Goseong County, a settlement of some 250 people in the far north-east of South Korea, close to the Demilitarised Zone and about a two-hour drive from Seoul - and, as it turned out, roughly an hour from the venues of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Sources differ on when it opened: it is generally recorded as 1976, which would make it the second ski resort in South Korea, while some reporting places the opening in the 1980s. It sat at 1,052 m and had the heaviest natural snowfall in the country. At its peak cars lined the approach roads every weekend and its eight pistes drew skiers from as far as China and South-East Asia, with foreign visitors making up around thirty per cent of custom. Newer resorts built nearer Seoul, with better facilities and easier access, took that trade away; domestic interest in skiing fell, the owner went bankrupt, and the resort shut abruptly in 2006. A proposed 80 billion won renovation by the Korean investor Alps Seven Resort collapsed when payment deadlines were missed.
What makes the site notable is how completely it was left as it stood. Journalists visiting during the PyeongChang Games found a rusty clock tower stopped at 6:50, fading buildings above unweeded slopes, a few bright red chairs still dangling from the cables, and a lobby holding a grubby mattress and a faded banner above a dried-up swimming pool, with dead plants still carrying holiday ornaments put up more than a decade earlier. That intactness has given it a second life on screen: it has been used as a filming location, including for Money Heist: Korea and the 2020 drama Flower of Evil. Individual piste names and the full lift inventory are not documented in accessible sources.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairlift | Chairlift | Left in place after closure, with chairs still hanging on the cable for years |
Sources and further reading
- https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/sports/20180212/ski-resort-abandoned-in-olympic-shade
- https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/inside-eerie-abandoned-ski-resort-near-demilitarised-zone-dmz-south-korea-1658916
- https://www.koreaherald.com/article/1566347
- https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2018/01/21/2003686153
More in South Korea
Location
38.3800, 128.4700