Sports committee introduces personal training for mount hiking

The Korea Sport & Olympic Committee has launched a personal training program, which allows people to learn hiking skills from professional alpinists, while hiking the same trails on the mountain, amid exponential growth in the number of hikers across the nation. The PT program provides people who have little experience in hiking with a chance to learn skills from the very basics as if people get personal training from trainers at the fitness center.

Alpinist Eom Hong-gil, who is the first in the world to have successfully scaled the 16 peaks on the Himalayas, served as the first instructor for the program. Eom provided detailed training Wednesday on how to hike and have fun to actor and YouTuber Lee Su-wan at Mount Won Dobong in Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province. Eom checked attire and gears of Lee, a novice hiker, and trained the latter on essential items and supplies, and how to use the stick. Eom chose to take the route from the entrance to Mount Won Dobong, to Deokje Spring, Mangwol Temple, and to Podae Ridge, a trail that is relatively easy for inexperienced hikers to hike.

Eom advised Lee, who was hiking the mounting without a sag with him, to bring one next time without fail. He also suggested Lee put in the sag a windbreaker jacket for different seasons, bottled water, and sufficient amount of snack including cucumber or fruits. When Lee put out candies and chocolates from his pockets, Eom said those are not suitable as hiking snacks, because although high in calories, they dry up saliva in the mouth and cause the hiker to drink water too often.

The committee will offer creative two video clips under the title “Elegant Mount Hiking” and will be released on its YouTube channel “Korea Sport and Olympic Committee TV.”


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com