Sites for sledding offer winter respite to both children, parents

Sites for snow sledding are the most popular place for children with the start of winter vacation. They can help remove student stress from the previous semester as kids joyfully slide down white snow-covered hills. Sledding also offers parents a chance to escape from their daily routines and enjoy winter.

○ Seoul

Ttukseom Hangang Riverside Park, a place popular in the summer due to swimming pools in Seoul`s Jayang-dong neighborhood, will have a site for sledding to open this winter. The park is close to Ttukseom Resort subway station on Line 7.

The facility will run sled slopes through Feb. 17 and operate separate slopes for toddlers (age 36 months to 6 years, 30 meters long) and children and adults (80 meters). Visitors can not only enjoy sledding but also experience traditional folk games and a theme exhibition (movie costumes and props exhibition) for an admission fee as little as 5,000 won (4.70 U.S. dollars).

People can also go sledding at World Cup Park (Noeul Park) in Sangam-dong, Seoul through Feb. 24. The 130 meter-long slopes there are the longest in Seoul. A low-slant slope for children is also available. In addition to sledding, visitors can enjoy winter activities such as kite flying and top spinning as well as a magic show.

Sledding on iced rice paddies or ponds is a unique way to have fun. At Seoul`s Boramae Park and Nodeulteotbat, sledding is free at water-filled rice paddies that are empty and frozen in winter. A sled site has been also created at Seoul Children’s Grand Park in Neung-dong, Seoul by filling Environmental Pond with water.

○ Incheon and Gyeonggi

The snow sled site at Incheon Grand Park in Jangsu-dong, the largest in Incheon, has two slopes for adults (140 meters) and toddlers (50 meters). Available are 3,000 sleds made of plastic and rubber tubes, as well as cafeterias and other amenities.

An ice sled site that can accommodate more than 100 people has also opened at the plaza in front of Suwon Hwaseong Haenggung (King Jeongjo`s palace) in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Visitors can see materials on Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, at the Hwaseong Museum near the site. The site will be open through Feb. 11. Admission and sled rentals are free.

Gimpo Four-Season Snow Sled Site in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province has a large slope 120 meters long and 30 meters wide and one 80 meters long and 25 meters wide. Artworks are also on display by famed Korean artists because of the site`s proximity to Gimpo International Sculpture Park.

In the village of Osan-ri in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, an ice sled site has been opened at a rice paddy uncultivated in winter near Baekseok High School and run by the Baekseok Volunteer Firefighter Corps. The ice sled site there covers 3,800 square meters and a skating rink 4,200 square meters. The site will be open to the public through early February. Admission and sled rentals are free, and the volunteer firefighters will provide security.

Since most ice sled sites are designed to form naturally through cold weather and operated flexibly depending on weather and ice conditions, visitors are advised to inquire in advance before visiting.

redoot@donga.com