Alpensia ski resort was a part of South Korea's Olympic bid for 2014, and will be a part of its 2018 bid.

Following the opening of Mongolia’s first proper ski resort last Wednesday, South Korea’s latest centre opened on Friday, the tenth ski area to open in Gangwon province.

Alpensia ski resort has opened with seven slopes. Five are for skiing, one is a dedicated snowboarding terrain park and one is designed for sledging. There are more than 5km (3mi) of runs descending from a top station at 700m (2300ft) above sea level.

The new resort will be transformed into PyeongChang’s Winter Olympic Park if South Korea, who were second in the bidding to host the 2014 Games, win their bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The centre is now also the main national Olympic-standard facility for other snow sports including ski jumping, biathlon and cross-country.

Alpensia has three high capacity chair lifts, two six-seaters and a quad, and can accommodate up to 3,000 people at any one time on the slopes. There’s a beginner run, four intermediate trails, and one black run named Fox-trot.

The resort complex also includes an Intercontinental Hotel, several golf courses and an indoor water park.

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