Alpensia Resort

The Alpensia Resort is a ski resort and a tourist attraction. It is located on the territory of the township of Daegwallyeong-myeon, in the county of Pyeongchang.

Alpensia has 6 slopes for skiing and snowboarding, with runs up to 1.4 km (0.87 mi) long, for beginners and advanced skiers, and an area reserved for snowboarders. The resort is open year-round.

The Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium is located within the station and will be the location of the ski jumping events of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Alpensia will be the focus of the 2018 Cultural Olympiad, with a new, purpose-built concert hall within the resort.

The decision to build Alpensia resort was taken in 2003, in the frame of the ambition of the Gangwon province to host the Winter Olympics. The resort was built on vacated farmlands and potato fields. The facility was completed in 2011.

In 2013, Alpensia Resort was one of the venues of the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.

The Alpensia Resort will be the focus of the outdoor sports of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

The venues are the following:

• Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium – Ski jumping, Nordic combined
• Alpensia Biathlon Centre – Biathlon
• Alpensia Nordic Centre– Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
• Alpensia Sliding Centre – Luge, Bobsleigh and Skeleton

In addition, Alpensia will be the location of an Olympic Village and the nearby Yongpyong Ski Resort will be the venue for alpine skiing technical events (slalom and giant slalom). The speed events of downhill, super-G, and combined will be held at Jungbong, currently under development.

After the Olympics, Alpensia Resort will also host the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

In 2012, it was announced that Alpensia Resort was threatened by bankruptcy, having accumulated losses of $55 million annually. Although this has been denied by Kim Jin-sun from the POCOGin January 2013, the financial problems had not improved as of September 2013. Some Gangwon Congress members insisted on selling Alpensia before it was too late. Others argued either to request financial support from the Government or to withdraw from the acceptance of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.