# Kim Jong-un North Korea Ski Resort Damaged by Mudslides



## Nick (Jul 31, 2013)

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/07/31/2013073100598.html



> A mudslide caused by recent torrential downpours hit a new ski resort North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is building in Masikryong in Kangwon Province.
> 
> Satellite images taken last Friday show some buildings buried under huge amounts of mud washed away from ski slopes. They also show a hotel and other facilities flooded.




awwwwwwww  need new plans for the winter now


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## billski (Jul 31, 2013)

*Mudslide Blights Kim Jong-un's Ski Resort*

"A mudslide caused by recent torrential downpours hit a new ski resort  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is building in Masikryong in Kangwon  Province.
...
On one visit to the site in May, Kim ordered officials to speed up construction so the resort can open this winter."

Source:  http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/07/31/2013073100598.html

_Additional sharpshooters have been allocated to the project to ensure on-time performance :uzi:_


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## thetrailboss (Jul 31, 2013)

Merging this with the existing thread.


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## snowmonster (Jul 31, 2013)

Landslides will open up more backcountry skiing possibilities! Hail, Dear Leader!


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## Mapnut (Jul 31, 2013)

Too bad, on Google Earth it looks like a fairly legitimate effort, 2200 vertical.  http://www.snowjournal.com/page.php?cid=galimg33128

420 mm of rain is 16.5 inches (in 2 days). Worse than Irene.


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## bvibert (Jul 31, 2013)

It's gonna all be backcountry with no base facilities...


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## bigbog (Jul 31, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> Landslides will open up more backcountry skiing possibilities! Hail, Dear Leader!



Those must be the hot, new breatheable apres' ski shells by Arc Teryx'.......in brown:-?..y/n?
LOL on missing first-chair.....good get Nick/Bill.
So Kid -Un thinks making a ski area is a snap eh'...so much for the N.Korean Corps of Engineers...guess after hacking into a few ski area design servers they thought they could build it better than those corrupt capitalists....


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## thetrailboss (Jul 31, 2013)

I don't see any chairlifts in those photos.  Are there going to be lifts?  If so, who is putting them in?  Probably neither Poma or Doppelmayr.


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## ss20 (Jul 31, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I don't see any chairlifts in those photos.  Are there going to be lifts?  If so, who is putting them in?  Probably neither Poma or Doppelmayr.



Yeah, that wouldn't look to good on their lift resume.  I can see it on their homepage... "Doppelmayr is now the official lift company of North Korea!" :/


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## thetrailboss (Jul 31, 2013)

ss20 said:


> Yeah, that wouldn't look to good on their lift resume.  I can see it on their homepage... "Doppelmayr is now the official lift company of North Korea!" :/



I would not be surprised if Dear Leader makes his own lifts or if he is like Chuck Norris and does not need a chairlift to ski.


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## ss20 (Jul 31, 2013)

Let's put Kim Jong-un on this lift...


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## thetrailboss (Jul 31, 2013)

ss20 said:


> Let's put Kim Jong-un on this lift...



Classic!  That is a crazy video and really demonstrates the forces on a lift.


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## Mapnut (Aug 1, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I would not be surprised if Dear Leader makes his own lifts or if he is like Chuck Norris and does not need a chairlift to ski.



Maybe this one was made by his grandfather: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8428761


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## ScottySkis (Aug 1, 2013)

To bad dear leader was not in the mud slide.


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## Domeskier (Aug 1, 2013)

Scotty said:


> To bad dear leader was not in the mud slide.



Dear Leader would have shredded that mudslide like Shaun White. Unless he decide to make it part around him.


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## ss20 (Aug 1, 2013)

Domeskier said:


> Dear Leader would have shredded that mudslide like Shaun White. Unless he decide to make it part around him.



He'd probably just nuke it with his invisible nuclear weapons.


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## Domeskier (Aug 2, 2013)

ss20 said:


> He'd probably just nuke it with his invisible nuclear weapons.



Or he'd just order the mud back up the hill, but not before making it repair any damage and sentencing it and its children to 20 years in a re-education camp.


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## deadheadskier (Aug 2, 2013)

or he'd eat the mudslide


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## snowmonster (Aug 2, 2013)

Better. He'll drink the mudslide.


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## ScottySkis (Aug 3, 2013)

snowmonster said:


> Better. He'll drink the mudslide.



I not sure if this is best news for my legalization thread but Cannabis is legal their and he is very pro cannabis from what I heard.


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## Domeskier (Aug 3, 2013)

Faithful North Korean citizens are now being urged to make the pilgrimage to partake of Dear Leader's miracle mudslide, coming soon to a TGIFs near you!


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## BenedictGomez (Aug 7, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> I don't see any chairlifts in those photos.  Are there going to be lifts?



No chairlifts needed. 

  Peasants carry you up the hill until they collapse and die, at which point a new peasant picks up the slack.


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## billski (Aug 7, 2013)

You guys are too funny!  See what happens when I go away?  The good times roll!

I heard on good authority that ski patrol will be armed military police and are trained to shoot-to-kill any out of bounds skiers.  :uzi:
Mountain rescue will be limited to putting the injured skier on a sled and pushing him/her off the cliff.  Dear leader expects this will hasten the time to get to the hospital.  A morgue will be placed at the base of the cliff.


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## dlague (Aug 7, 2013)

BenedictGomez said:


> No chairlifts needed.
> 
> Peasants carry you up the hill until they collapse and die, at which point a new peasant picks up the slack.



And the retired ones become mogul seeding.


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## thetrailboss (Aug 7, 2013)

BenedictGomez said:


> No chairlifts needed.
> 
> Peasants carry you up the hill until they collapse and die, at which point a new peasant picks up the slack.



Yeah, exactly.


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## ss20 (Aug 7, 2013)

Groommer blades will be peasant fingers and toes.


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## SIKSKIER (Aug 8, 2013)

All his officials are still using pencils and paper in that article.


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## thetrailboss (Aug 20, 2013)

Uh oh...Switzerland bars lift company from exporting $7 million in lift components to Great Leader.

*http://unofficialnetworks.com/swiss-government-blocks-skilift-exports-north-korea-124487/*


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## bvibert (Aug 20, 2013)

thetrailboss said:


> Uh oh...Switzerland bars lift company from exporting $7 million in lift components to Great Leader.
> 
> *http://unofficialnetworks.com/swiss-government-blocks-skilift-exports-north-korea-124487/*



Time for plan B...

Get to the top using ICBMs


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## thetrailboss (Aug 20, 2013)

bvibert said:


> Time for plan B...
> 
> Get to the top using ICBMs



Great One definitely deserves the fastest lifts in the world


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## billski (Aug 21, 2013)

Damn!  I just arranged a group trip for next January.  I was really looking forward to some of the double black trails, "Rocket run", "Nuclear Fantasy", and WMD.   Other trails like "Kim's Run" just really don't have a good ring to them.


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## RENO (Aug 22, 2013)

bigbog said:


> Those must be the hot, new breatheable apres' ski shells by Arc Teryx'.......in brown:-?..y/n?
> LOL on missing first-chair.....good get Nick/Bill.
> So Kid -Un thinks making a ski area is a snap eh'...so much for the N.Korean Corps of Engineers...guess after hacking into a few ski area design servers they thought they could build it better than those corrupt capitalists....


They must buy their suits at the same place David Byrne buys his! :lol:


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## billski (Aug 22, 2013)

I don't think Dear Leader would like his freshly pressed suit to get dirty.  Then again, maybe that's why it's brown?


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## billski (Aug 22, 2013)

*sanctions on Pyongyang prohibiting trade in luxury goods. ...*

Source: South China Morning Post, August 22, 2013

"Kim Jong-un's plans for a top-notch ski resort face an uphill battle in  the face of a vigorous campaign by a Japanese human rights advocate.

..For months, Ken Kato, director of Tokyo-based Human Rights in Asia, has  been contacting the Japanese embassies ...reminding  them to adhere to United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang prohibiting  trade in* luxury goods*.
...
"North Korea is trying to import lifts from Leitner Ropeways and I think this is a little bit worrying,"
...


Imagine a lineup like this as Vail expands.  A freaking military battalion!

The Masik resort will have a hotel, cable cars, ski gear shops and a  heliport, the KCNA state media has reported. Kim ordered that it be  completed in time for the skiing season this winter.


 South Korean media have reported that US$1.8 billion is being sunk  into Kim's pet project, which could be seen as attempt to rival South  Korea when it hosts the 2018 Winter Olympics.


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## billski (Aug 22, 2013)

Very curious:

40% of Korean citizens in the northeast sector of the country are now addicted to Crystal Meth and nearly everyone has tried it.  It all started about 20 years ago when the government setup crystal meth production facilities in the northeast of the country to generate cash for the country.  The government appears unable to control the problem.  Yeah. Neither that nor the dear leader's mouth can be controlled!


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## thetrailboss (Aug 22, 2013)

Re: Leitner

I believe that they have declined to sell anything to North Korea because of political concerns.


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## ScottySkis (Aug 22, 2013)

billski said:


> Very curious:
> 
> 40% of Korean citizens in the northeast sector of the country are now addicted to Crystal Meth and nearly everyone has tried it.  It all started about 20 years ago when the government setup crystal meth production facilities in the northeast of the country to generate cash for the country.  The government appears unable to control the problem.  Yeah.  Thank and dear leader's mouth!


Sad very sad.


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## ss20 (Aug 22, 2013)

Scotty said:


> Sad very sad.



I'd do drugs too if my country was constantly on the verge of starvation and I worked 12 hours a day.

BTW, this is N. Korea right?  "Korean citizens" isn't helping me.


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## Smellytele (Aug 24, 2013)

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-objects-sanctions-ban-ski-resort-equipment-062335406.html


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## Boston Bulldog (Aug 27, 2013)

Just saw this thread and I am literally dying, this is freaking hilarous!

Thread of the year!


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## Mapnut (Aug 28, 2013)

I just read a book called "This is Paradise!" by a man who escaped from North Korea in 2000 at the age of 13, after half of his schoolmates had starved to death and his father was about to be sentenced to a labor camp.  There's nothing hilarious about North Korea. 

It would be nice if they could improve their economy with a destination resort, but first they should feed their people.


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## Mapnut (Aug 28, 2013)

http://news.yahoo.com/n-korea-sees-bright-future-tourism-state-media-103327338.html

I don't.


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## dmc (Aug 28, 2013)

We kinda talked about this when we went to Kashmir...
It's a contested area in India/Pakistan...  People protest and die....  Some crazy stuff goes down...
People live on the poverty line... Or what we perceive to be the poverty line..

But we decided to go and immersed ourselves into the local scene via our ski guides..  And found most people are living their lives and really don't care about India, Pakistan and China politics...  We gladly paid for what they offered up as far as food and stuff..   And left behind a pile of ski gear to the workers there.. 

North Korea is a different thing for sure...    I've been to South Korea a few times and I really enjoyed it..

But I'd be curious to go and meet the people there but not at the expense of someone starving so I could have fun...


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## billski (Sep 1, 2013)

Mapnut said:


> It would be nice if they could improve their economy with a destination resort, but first they should feed their people.



Another article on on this indicated that the resort is only for use by the ruling elite.  I'm not surprised.


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## Nick (Oct 8, 2013)

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/...ish-ski-resort-for-impoverished-citizens?lite

Updated news. Pretty interesting. 



> This is the Masik Pass ski resort, North Korea's latest megaproject, the product of 10 months of furious labor intended to show that this country, so often derided for its poverty and isolation, is as civilized and culturally advanced as any other.The complex of ski runs, resort chalets and sleigh rides will formally open Thursday, though late last month the main hotels appeared to be little more than shells, potholes filled the access roads and foundations were still being dug for secondary buildings.
> Advertise | AdChoices
> 
> 
> ...



Interestingly it says ski lift companies won't sell to them because of embargo or other reasons. Ki'ms response: 



> "We can make nuclear weapons and rockets," he said. "We can build a ski lift."


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## mriceyman (Oct 8, 2013)

itll be interesting to see what they come up with. crazy bastards


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## ss20 (Oct 8, 2013)

> "We can make nuclear weapons and rockets," he said. "We can build a ski lift."



So the lift will also be invisible?


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## Mapnut (Oct 8, 2013)

This article (same article) http://news.yahoo.com/nkorea-rushes-finish-lavish-ski-resort-063141050.html has some pictures, just the first 9 are of the ski area. The slopes look pretty decent! Even that straight flat one scales (on Google Earth) as 2200 feet long and 500 feet vertical, good proportions for a practice slope. One photo shows a lift under construction on it.

The construction methods, on the other hand . . . the comments cover it pretty well.


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## billski (Oct 8, 2013)

The only thing more depressing than a closed ski resort is, a ski resort built by Kim Jong Un. 

I'm sure his impoverished subjects wouldn't mind some of that $$.  Reminds me of now Neuschwanstein was built.  Kin Ludwig bankrupted his country.  Then again, he was taken out into a boat and "mysteriously drown."   Hey oh Great One, want to go out fishing?


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## billski (Oct 8, 2013)

The comments below the story are priceless:

*They will have a "festive" grand opening that will attract hundreds of thousands of North Koreans 
*
 It's to be called  "_ Ski For Food ...or Die of Starvation"

_If they can't build a rocket that doesn't explode, you can imagine the quality of the ski lift they're going to invent.

The impoverished masses will ski, and they will love it. OR ELSE.

When their[sic] done with designing, and constructing their new Ski lift I  pray to god that Kim ding dong is the first person to ride it, to the  moon when it explodes just like their rockets do!

""Wonder" if, in that photo, this is target range?"
 I was thinking the same thing. I guess they are going to have to learn to slalom fast, or die! LOL

A ski resort now qualifies as a "megaproject" in North Korea? Well, you take what you can get, I guess.

I'd be willing to bet that most average North Koreans burned their skis  long ago trying to stay warm. (that's assuming they could afford a pair  to begin with)


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## billski (Oct 8, 2013)

What?  This thing is supposed to open on Thursday.  No snow either. 
Check out this construction photo.

View attachment 9272


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## ss20 (Oct 8, 2013)

I could read the comments for hours.  I really liked this one: 


> This is a true sign of Kim Jong Un's love for his people and dedication to their overall health and fitness. He has already made great strides to prevent overeating. Now he allows his most loyal followers to carry exercise-bricks up the mountain. Selflessly eating all the high-fat foods himself, his sacrifice spares his subjects from any associated cardiovascular disease. Only Korean culinary mastery under the watchful gaze of the beloved god-leader can make shoe leather a delicacy and dirt a delicious source of minerals for all of his people.


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## ScottySkis (Oct 8, 2013)

True story my cousin Gf came from North Korea but she was adopted and she always joke's about what she be doing if she wasn't adopted.


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## wa-loaf (Oct 9, 2013)

Nick said:


> "We can make nuclear weapons and rockets," he said. "We can build a ski lift."



More likely smuggled in through Iran.


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## billski (Oct 9, 2013)

wa-loaf said:


> More likely smuggled in through Iran.


or even more likely


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## Nick (Oct 9, 2013)

wa-loaf said:


> More likely smuggled in through Iran.



Contraband Ski lift?


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## billski (Oct 9, 2013)

I suspect kim ding dong will have a private gondola lift.


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## wa-loaf (Oct 9, 2013)

billski said:


> or even more likely
> 
> View attachment 9274



The first rope tow?


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## billski (Oct 9, 2013)

wa-loaf said:


> The first rope tow?



Indeed.  But in NK, these are the SKIERS.


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## billski (Oct 14, 2013)

*The latest news, from last Friday.  Devastatingly depressing.  Tragically true.   *The picture I posted above is not far from the truth.
:angry:


They got their lifts, but they only can go halfway up the slope.


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## billski (Jan 5, 2014)

Kimmy baby shreddin' the knar.  Well, sort of...







North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visited a newly completed ski resort  yesterday and ordered officials to open his pet project to the public as  soon as possible, state media reported.

He noted "with great satisfaction" that everything was "impeccable" and  gave instructions to serve the people well so that visitors may "keenly  feel the loving care of the party".  uke:


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## billski (Jan 5, 2014)

So, where are the skis, boards and boots?





Looks like he's disposed of the slave labor.. :angry:


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## billski (Jan 5, 2014)

"
When North Korea's state media last week issued pictures of leader  Kim Jong-un visiting a new ski field he ordered built, one firm in  Sweden couldn't believe what it was seeing.
 Its snow cannons were being used to coat the slopes of the Masik Pass  Ski Resort in white - despite European Union sanctions meant to prevent  impoverished North Korea getting its hands on luxury goods and  equipment.
 "I have no idea how they turned up in North Korea. We did not sell  them directly to North Korea," the chief of the Areco company, Johan  Erling, told the _Dagens Nyheter _newspaper."


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## billski (Jan 5, 2014)

Pyongyang was so angry it issued a furious response via  official state outlet KCNA, declaring, "This is an intolerable mockery  of the social system and the people of the DPRK and a serious human  rights abuse that politicizes sports and discriminates against the  Koreans." Yes, you read that correctly: North Korea called Switzerland's  refusal to sell it ski lifts a "serious human rights abuse."


some pretty funny/sad reader comments:

The ski lift isn't the only new development  in the DPRK.  In yet another technological coup, North Korean  scientists claim they've developed a way to turn snow into water.  The  secretive nation released few details of the process, but it's believed  scientists discovered that snow, when introduced to a heat source,  becomes water.  One press release described water as, "palatable,  delicious and nutritious."  Sources say North Korea currently lacks the  technology to package water, but it is expected that executing a few  hundred thousand dissidents will free up sufficient resources to bring  water to urban areas within a few years.

Yes indeed! A nation that makes nuclear  bombs and ICBMs should surely be able to rig up a simple ski lift. The  author of this fallacious report should be summarily fired (like Kim's  uncle!).

Also, has anyone considered that maybe NK  has finally gotten better at their photoshopping skills and they really  don't have a ski lift yet?
Yes, they have. Only it's a pirated copy of Photoshop and not the latest version.

Love to see the après ski activity center.  

I have a hard time imagining what he is  going to use for ski gear?  After all, it is useless to have a lift if  you don't have the accouterments to ski with.  How is going to import  that? 

He can always sell snow cones at the ski lodge . . .

There must be some mightly strong cable on that lift system. 

In the general spirit of the DPRK, the  resort's new restaurant will challenge it's hungry patrons to attempt to  scavenge as much spilled millet from passing train cars while also  trying to avoid being shot by Government goons.  These lucky survivors  are free to enjoy their hard won meal swaddled in the luxury of this  Apres ski paradise.


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## hiroto (Jan 6, 2014)

There are some videos up on youtube.


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## thetrailboss (Jan 6, 2014)

Do not question or mock dear leader or you will be fed to his wild dogs.  Just read about what happened to his (now late) Uncle....


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## Bene288 (Jan 6, 2014)

hiroto said:


> There are some videos up on youtube.



Oh the neon!


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## billski (Jan 6, 2014)

Bene288 said:


> Oh the neon!


  Used gear smuggled in.  Just like the snowmaking equipment and chairlift.  Can't wait to see the boots/bindings!


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## Snowlover (Jan 6, 2014)

Are helmets required?


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## billski (Jan 6, 2014)

hiroto said:


> There are some videos up on youtube.


Those women could use some dental work.  I'll bet the skiers in that demonstration have been smuggled in.

Why are they blowing snow on the flat ground?


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 6, 2014)

Is that the only trail open? The WROD in January?

The leader really proved how "fearless" he was by getting on that chairlift. That's a pretty vulnerable position where a good shot by a sniper could take him out easily.


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## billski (Jan 6, 2014)

skiNEwhere said:


> Is that the only trail open? The WROD in January?
> 
> The leader really proved how "fearless" he was by getting on that chairlift. That's a pretty vulnerable position where a good shot by a sniper could take him out easily.


  Did you notice his chair was the only one with a seat?


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## billski (Jan 7, 2014)




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## jimmywilson69 (Jan 7, 2014)

Did they steal Sugarbush's Valley House lift?


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## billski (Jan 7, 2014)

jimmywilson69 said:


> Did they steal Sugarbush's Valley House lift?


  Someone better go check.  Hurry!


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## Bostonian (Jan 7, 2014)

I wonder if Der Leader will also have a waffle cabin!


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## Edd (Jan 7, 2014)

billski said:


> View attachment 10187



Wow. That country has nukes.


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## skifree (Jan 7, 2014)

they need poles. I will give Rodman some old bent ones I have laying around to bring on his next trip


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 7, 2014)

Billski, you seem pretty interested in Masik pass.

When are you gonna post a TR?


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## Mapnut (Jan 7, 2014)

We're all just jealous.  We wish we could build a 2200-vertical-foot ski area from scratch in a year!


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## bunkscene (Jan 7, 2014)

This is obviously a diversionary tactic to hide the nuclear weapon facility underneath the mountain.


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 7, 2014)

billski said:


>



No gloves? Goggles? What a gaper 

Is Dennis Rodman on the chair behind him?


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 15, 2014)

This is almost a TR

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/01/15/intv-chiou-cockrell-nk-skiing.cnn.html


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## wa-loaf (Jan 15, 2014)

skiNEwhere said:


> This is almost a TR
> 
> http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/01/15/intv-chiou-cockrell-nk-skiing.cnn.html



Saw that. The conditions look like frozen groomed ...


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 15, 2014)

I'm kind of curious if they've created any operating procedures. Do they know how to perform lift maintenance? 

I wouldn't be surprised if they have no maintenance at all and just run the lift until it breaks, at which point I would be even less surprised if they had the equipment to perform a lift evac.


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## billski (Jan 15, 2014)

skiNEwhere said:


> Billski, you seem pretty interested in Masik pass.
> 
> When are you gonna post a TR?


  I got a season's pass!  They have a "work day" scheduled for next Monday for passholders.  Said they need to move a few boulders.  There will be an apres-ski party afterwards.  Sounds great!


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## billski (Jan 15, 2014)

wa-loaf said:


> Saw that. The conditions look like frozen groomed ...


+1


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## billski (Jan 15, 2014)

bunkscene said:


> This is obviously a diversionary tactic to hide the nuclear weapon facility underneath the mountain.


They have some pretty neat snow guns!


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 15, 2014)

Sure that's not a nuclear avalauncher?


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## bigbog (Jan 15, 2014)

Wonder how many million-$$$ the CIA used to bring this gem on....


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## skiNEwhere (Jan 15, 2014)

Funny that it is January and I see barely any natural snow on the sides of the trails.


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## skiNEwhere (Feb 15, 2014)

Only $2,500 for a DPRK ski trip? AZ summit next year 

http://uritours.com/tours/entry-tour/north-korea-travel-ski-trip


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## billski (Feb 15, 2014)

skiNEwhere said:


> Only $2,500 for a DPRK ski trip? AZ summit next year
> 
> http://uritours.com/tours/entry-tour/north-korea-travel-ski-trip




Can't wait!  50% open.

These photos are downright disconcerting.  Where is everyone?  Love those grass runs.  And who are the people in these photos anyways?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/northkoreatravel/12330373554/in/photostream/


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## VTKilarney (Feb 16, 2014)

Only 30-40 minutes to the peak!
Here's a good write up:
http://uritours.com/blog/entry/how-to-ski-in-north-korea-at-masik-pass


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## BenedictGomez (Feb 16, 2014)

billski said:


> These photos are downright disconcerting.  *Where is everyone?*



They dont have time to ski because they're struggling to feed their family.


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## SIKSKIER (Feb 17, 2014)

Good info from the tour operator:

 If you will be taking the lift up, please let us know where you’re going and which run you’ll do.  

If we need to evacuate you out to Beijing, we’ll work with the Swedish Embassy to make those arrangements and deliver prompt medical attention


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## VTKilarney (Feb 17, 2014)

If this tour isn't crazy enough, the February 6-10 trip included a stop at the Munsu Water Park in Pyongyang.  That would be this water park: 

To be fair, there is an indoor section under the pyramid, but you never know what the Great Leader has planned on any given day for tourists!

Here is the tour description: http://uritours.com/tours/entry-tour/ski-north-korea-short-tour

You know your economy is hurting when the opening of a meat shop is national news:


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## VTKilarney (Feb 17, 2014)

SIKSKIER said:


> If you will be taking the lift up, please let us know where you’re going and which run you’ll do.


 That's so they can interrogate anyone who may have spoken to you on the slopes.


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## billski (Feb 17, 2014)

Please explain to me why, if he espouses his "friendly" and welcoming spirit, he is always followed around by military who have more battle campaign ribbons than I have ski pins?  Makes me feel really welcome.  Oh, yeah, I read through the "side trips" the tour group sponsors.  My favorite is the tour of the active DMZ zone.  Let's play chicken!


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## billski (Feb 17, 2014)

VTKilarney said:


> You know your economy is hurting when the opening of a meat shop is national news:



Yeah, but who can afford this stuff?  Even dear leader appears mystified, though I doubt he's never cooked a complete meal in his life.   

Did you notice the lady behind the cash register bow as he entered the room?  I thought she was going to dive to the floor.

I can't imagine what military officers have chat about in a grocery store.   Life must hurt.


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## VTKilarney (Feb 17, 2014)

As any fascist country does, North Korea has its elite.  Here is a good article discussing this: https://newfocusintl.com/the-new-north-korean-elite-the-10-and-the-1/

The most recent study I could find, however, says that 84% of North Korean households have borderline or poor food consumption.  This "meat" store is definitely for the 1%.  It's laid out like a high end boutique, and is clearly not designed for lots of traffic.

If you want to see something really weird, take a look at the satellite view of Pyongyang in Google Maps.  By any standard it's a huge city.  But look at the details - because they tell the real story.  Look, for example, at how few cars are on the street for a city of that size.  And this is where the country's preferred class lives!


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## BenedictGomez (Feb 17, 2014)

The fake crying at KJI's funeral procession was one of the most frightening things I've ever seen.


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## VTKilarney (Feb 17, 2014)

Here is a trip report about North Korea's only other ski area:
http://lastknownlocation.blogspot.com/2007/04/wintertime-in-samjiyon.html

The punchline: Nobody was skiing.  Two men were manning the chair lift.  There was no electricity to run the chair lift.


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## VTKilarney (Feb 17, 2014)

Check out this video starting at about 2:20.  Apparently North Koreans do not believe at all in planting their poles.  Perhaps they do not want to pierce the sacred earth.


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## billski (Feb 17, 2014)

5820]Check out this video starting at about 2:20.  Apparently North Koreans do not believe at all in planting their poles.  Perhaps they do not want to pierce the sacred earth.[/QUOTE]
Poles are for imperialist Americans.


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## SIKSKIER (Feb 18, 2014)

Holy crap.They like to use the whole trail also.


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## Mapnut (Feb 18, 2014)

This is pretty sad. The slopes actually look very inviting, better than any ski area in the South (which I've only looked at virtually). But few will want to go there. The only hope I see for the North is that someday in the future a reformer like Gorbachev will come to power, someone who realizes that a more liberal country will do better all around.

The South is developing a new mountain for the 2018 downhills; I can't wait to see it. I think I've found the location on Google Earth, though it doesn't show any work in progress yet. It's a 5,000-ft. mountain with easily a 3,000 vertical drop. I assume it will need 100% snowmaking.


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## VTKilarney (Feb 18, 2014)

Apparently "ski camping of students" has now started at Masik Pass:
http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201402/news17/20140217-01ee.html


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## from_the_NEK (Feb 18, 2014)

Mapnut said:


> The South is developing a new mountain for the 2018 downhills; I can't wait to see it. I think I've found the location on Google Earth, though it doesn't show any work in progress yet. It's a 5,000-ft. mountain with easily a 3,000 vertical drop. I assume it will need 100% snowmaking.


Mt Gariwang, just NW of Najeon Station?[h=3][/h]


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## billski (Feb 18, 2014)

VTKilarney said:


> Apparently "ski camping of students" has now started at Masik Pass:
> http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2014/201402/news17/20140217-01ee.html



The BBC had another expose' last spring on the regime.  The amount of coaching, and the constant presence of a "minder" is upsetting.  Bizarre is an understatement.


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## from_the_NEK (Feb 25, 2014)

VTKilarney said:


> There was no electricity to run the chair lift.


Yeah looks like lights are even a luxury in that country. You have to feel bad for the people that live there :sad:.  http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/space-north-korea-nation-dark-n37976


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## COskiauthority (Mar 12, 2014)

*Supposed to be "luxurious"*

I read today that it is actually supposed to be great. I have my doubts: http://voices.yahoo.com/worlds-luxurious-ski-resort-north-korea-12561997.html?cat=16

some pretty funny/sad reader comments:

The ski lift isn't the only new development  in the DPRK.  In yet another technological coup, North Korean  scientists claim they've developed a way to turn snow into water.  The  secretive nation released few details of the process, but it's believed  scientists discovered that snow, when introduced to a heat source,  becomes water.  One press release described water as, "palatable,  delicious and nutritious."  Sources say North Korea currently lacks the  technology to package water, but it is expected that executing a few  hundred thousand dissidents will free up sufficient resources to bring  water to urban areas within a few years.

Yes indeed! A nation that makes nuclear  bombs and ICBMs should surely be able to rig up a simple ski lift. The  author of this fallacious report should be summarily fired (like Kim's  uncle!).

Also, has anyone considered that maybe NK  has finally gotten better at their photoshopping skills and they really  don't have a ski lift yet?
Yes, they have. Only it's a pirated copy of Photoshop and not the latest version.

Love to see the après ski activity center.  

I have a hard time imagining what he is  going to use for ski gear?  After all, it is useless to have a lift if  you don't have the accouterments to ski with.  How is going to import  that? 

He can always sell snow cones at the ski lodge . . .

There must be some mightly strong cable on that lift system. 

In the general spirit of the DPRK, the  resort's new restaurant will challenge it's hungry patrons to attempt to  scavenge as much spilled millet from passing train cars while also  trying to avoid being shot by Government goons.  These lucky survivors  are free to enjoy their hard won meal swaddled in the luxury of this  Apres ski paradise.[/QUOTE]


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