[custom_adv] North Korea's Masikryong ski resort was the brainchild of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, and is designed to rival Pyeongchang in South Korea, which will host the winter Olympics next year.But the luxurious resort, which boasts a wood-panelled reception and statues of winter sports athletes, is empty, aside from the nursery slopes. [custom_adv] It is a bizarre thing to prioritise in an impoverished nation with a ramshackle infrastructure where around 40 percent of its people are undernourished, according to the Global Hunger Index.The well-groomed pistes on Mount Taehwa, flanked by wooded hillsides, run down to a hotel and a giant screen showing a North Korean army choir. [custom_adv] At a visitor centre packed with pictures of Kim - including one of him using a chairlift, although without skis - guides credit him with giving on-the-spot guidance no fewer than 144 times over the course of construction.The resort is a three-hour drive from Pyongyang, down a potholed concrete road that passes through unlit tunnels and which civilian work crews clear of snow and ice by hand after fresh falls. [custom_adv] The luxurious lobby of the hotel at the Masikryong ski resort is deserted most of the time. Andrei Lankov, director of website NK News and professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, said Pyongyang's tourism expectations have been 'absolutely unfounded' and 'nearly comical' [custom_adv] Day passes for foreigners cost almost £80, while for citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - around 100 of whom were on the single nursery slope - they are priced at the equivalent of about £20 at free-market rates. By some estimates that approaches an ordinary worker's monthly salary. But most will go on group trips organised by their work unit, school or organisation, at zero or minimal cost [custom_adv] North Korea says the resort is now ‘well equipped’ for sleds, and beginner and intermediate skiersTo avoid UN sanctions, ski lifts at the new resort were locally-built, evading blockage of luxury goods entering North Korea. [custom_adv] In one form or other skiing has been a permanent feature on the Olympic Winter Games programme since 1924. The current six disciplines of skiing are alpine, cross country, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle and snowboarding. [custom_adv] The first four are rich in history whilst the latter two are relative newcomers growing in popularity. To compete in these various disciplines one needs to master speed, endurance, dexterity, and determination. [custom_adv] The alpine competition consists of ten events: five each for women and men. The downhill features the longest course and the highest speeds in alpine skiing. Super-G stands for super giant slalom, an event that combines the speed of downhill with the more precise turns of giant slalom. [custom_adv] The slalom is the alpine event with the shortest course and the quickest turns. The giant slalom has fewer turns and wider, smoother turns. In both events, each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. [custom_adv] Masikryong Ski Resort is a ski resort at the summit of the 1,360-metre (4,460 ft) Taehwa Peak some 20 kilometres (12 mi) outside Wonsan City in Kangwon Province, North Korea. [custom_adv] According to the official project plan, the first stage of the 2,430-square-kilometre (940 sq mi) development cost US$35,340,000 (£21 million; €25.5 million) and included construction of a luxury hotel, ice rink, swimming pool and restaurants.
