The Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium is an outdoor ski ramp in Pyeongchang. Its landing area doubles as a football field during the warmer months, so it sees year-round action. The stunting venue sits next to the Alpensia Ski Resort, which is great for wintersports from November onwards until colorful wildflowers mark the start of the hiking season in mid March.
The stadium was completed in 2009 and famously hosted the Nordic combined event and ski jumping competitions of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games were also partly held here.
Other Winter Olympics venues at Alpensia include the Biathlon Stadium, the Cross Country Stadium for Nordic combined and the Sliding Center for luge riding, bobsleigh and skeleton racing.
The venue’s “Large Hill” track is 466 feet (142 meters) tall. The record set here in 2018 was 471 feet (143.5 meters), by Ryoyu Kobayashi from Japan. The “Normal Hill” is 358 feet (109 meters) high and the longest jump without falling over at the end was achieved by Stefan Kraft from Austria, who managed 372 feet (113.5 meters).
If there is no jumping show, race or football match on, take the chairlifts to the summit.
In winter, you can ski or snowboard down the six slopes, with smooth runs up to 0.9 miles (1.4 kilometers) long. Using the NATO phonetic alphabet, Alpha is the easiest slope and Foxtrot the hardest, but none are very hard. Advanced skiers should consider going to the Yongpyong Ski Resort instead. Come back to Alpensia for dinner, when the white slopes are brightly lit by giant spotlights.
During the rest of the year, you can come to the summit for the views. You can stay in one of the on-site luxury hotel resorts and visit Alpensia’s Ocean 700 waterpark in summer for hours of family fun. Or, hit the golf course or try your luck in the Alpensia Casino.
Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium is part of the township of Daegwallyeong-myeon, in Pyeongchang county. Daegwallyeong is a 3.5-hour drive from Seoul’s Incheon Airport and a 2.5-hour drive from the Gimpo Airport near the capital. Jinbu is the nearest KTX train station.
