Murky Environmental Legacy Remains at Jeongseon

(ATR) On Feb. 11 members of the environmental group Green Korea rented a helicopter to take pictures of the Olympic downhill course.

The effort is an ongoing one for the group, in hopes of documenting of what they say is possibly irreversible environmental degradation on the Jeongseon alpine course.

"The 8-day ski resort is expected to be remembered forever as an Olympic heritage," Jae-Cheol Seo, an activist with Green Korea told Around the Rings. "The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games will remain a synonym for the Olympics and the waste of the budget and environmental destruction."

During the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics the resort will host eight days of competition for alpine speed events. After the Olympics the current government plan is to attempt to reforest the upper part of the mountain. The Forest Ministry of Korea and Gangwon province officials are still determining the best course of action for the slope.

Neither government organization would return multiple requests for comment from ATR. An official in Gangwon province said they were not authorized to provide any help on clarifying the matter because of the sensitive nature of negotiations.

Alpine events for the 2018 Olympics are taking place in the Taebek Mountain Range that runs parallel to the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula. The range is a lot lower in elevation than traditional alpine skiing venues in Europe and North America, with only a few peaks above 1,500 meters.

The lower elevation means the range exists entirely under the treeline. This created a challenge for skiing organizers, with forests blocking potential ski slopes. Also, an Olympic downhill course requires a certain amount of elevation change, and vertical drops, throughout the run. The 2018 downhill course has an elevation change of 825 meters, according to organizers.

These requirements left organizers with a very short list of suitable mountains to host the downhill, and the reality that a new ski slope would have to be built for the Olympics. Complicating matters further was the environmentally protected forests around PyeongChang County.

Olympic Agenda 2020 Not Used

Jeongseon was confirmed as a venue by PyeongChang 2018 in 2015, right after Olympic Agenda 2020 went into effect. The peak specifically used for the event is known as Gariwangsan, one of the peaks above 1,500 meters in Gangwon province. Seo said that Korean officials were given the option of relocating the course to another area of Korea, but balked at the idea.

The first alternative was using the High 1 ski resort in Gangwon province, which was shot down by the organizing committee. Seo said that other venues offered by the IOC were also nixed.

"The waste of budget and the destruction of environment of Gariwangsan Ski Resort came from the persistence of Gangwon Province and Organizing Committee," Seo said. "After the IOC's 2020 Agenda was released, it was said that 'FIS persuasion' was the reason [for inaction]."

The course was fraught with delaysinvolving gondolas and snowmaking equipment during its construction as well as fears about a lack of accommodations. The course was completed in early 2016 for PyeongChang 2018 test events, and two hotels have been built in the isolated venue.

During construction more than 100 environmentally protected trees were removed and replanted on another side of the mountain for preservation. Other considerations for environmentally protected trees were given on the slope.

The Korean Forest Service made the decision to dismantle the upper sections of the Gariwangsan ski slope in December, an "important decision," Seo says. However, there is a real risk that the costs put into the construction and then the reforestation of the venue could ultimately be for naught.

"Even if the Olympic Games are important, only eight days will undermine the 500-year-old forest," Seo said. "Making a ski resort is a tragedy and a sad thing."

Unclear Post-Games Use

Bernhard Russi, chair of the International Ski Federation alpine committee, told ATR that "environmental questions" are always considered when planning venues. He said that the lower part of the course will be a "very good ski area" and should be considered a legacy.

However, Russi offered a blunt assessment about a large part of the venue being reforested and not in use following the Games.

"It sucks," Russi said. "But this is another story.

"I hope that they keep it open because it would be ridiculous to replant it because the trees that were cut they were replanted on another side, already, and the trees they had to be protected, and they have been taken out and they were transported to another side into the forest they are still there."

IOC Executive Director Christophe Dubi singled out Jeongseon as one of three venues the IOC is concerned about after the Olympic Games.

"Of course it will remain an alpine skiing resort," Dubi told reporters. "The only thing is the replanting and to what extent, so this needs to be finalized."

Athletes polled by ATR throughout the Games were largely unaware of the specific problems at the Jeongseon venue, but understand that environmental protections are increasingly necessary for the survival of the sport. Environmental concerns continue to dominate the front lines of skiing, especially climate change concerns.

Ted Ligety, a multiple gold medalist in alpine skiing from the United States, told ATR that skiers are well aware of the environmental impact their sport has on the world.

"We want to be able to ski with our kids and grandkids, so it is something we are cognizant of," Ligety said.

No Lessons From Past Failures

Seo says that after the Games leave town, the challenges of reforestation could quickly become apparent, and that organizers’ shortsightedness may undermine any legacy in the area. Reforesting trees above 1000 meters is no guarantee, and Seo estimates the potential future costs at around $100 million.

The government must take into account what Seo says are failures from reforestation efforts from the 1996 Winter University Games in Deogyusan National Park and the 1999 Asian Winter Games at the Yongpyong resort. The Yongpyong resort is in use for the 2018 Games for technical alpine events.

Seo said that governments "promised to save the protected trees while damaging natural forests such as conifer trees". He says that in the end the legacy from these events was dead transplanted trees.

"[Reforestation] is very difficult in terms of ecology and forest science," Seo said. "This fact is known to the Korean Forest Service and the Ministry of Environment.

"It is very difficult to create a forest 1200 meters above sea level. Korean ecologists have the same idea."

Written by Aaron Bauerwith additional reporting from Brian Pinelli

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