[Harumanbo Harucheonja] "Deo Eoreora"... The Colder, The More Exciting Hantan River Ice Walking

There is a place where you can enjoy walking trips on ice frozen solid in the dead of winter. Cheorwon-gun holds the annual 'Hantan River Ice Trekking Festival' every winter, allowing visitors to walk on the ice of the Hantan River and experience the breathtaking scenery of the river and the romantic winter atmosphere of Cheorwon.

Started in 2013, the Ice Trekking Festival features an 8 km course beginning at Taebong Bridge, passing Madang Rock, Seungil Bridge, Goseokjeong Pavilion, and ending at Sundam Valley. The columnar joints and bizarre rock formations along the course serve as unique natural photo zones exclusive to the Hantan River, leaving unforgettable memories for tourists.

This year’s festival, held last month under the theme "A Winter Outing, Following the Nature of Hantan River," attracted about 180,000 visitors including mountain clubs and hiking enthusiasts nationwide. This marked an increase of more than 46,000 visitors compared to the previous year. Tourists enjoyed trekking while admiring the snow-covered Hantan River scenery, ice cliffs, and large snow sculptures. However, since the Hantan River did not freeze this year, the program of walking on the ice was not operated for safety reasons. Instead, to ease the disappointment of tourists who wanted to experience the ice path, an ice rafting event was held against the backdrop of Seungil Ice Cliff. On the 20th of last month, an event called the 'Hantan River Cold Wind Arm Muscle Running Competition' was also held. This event involved running bare-chested in the biting cold, covering a 6.32 km course starting from Seungil Park, passing Goseokjeong Pavilion, Songdaeso, and Eunhasu Bridge, and returning to the start. About 500 people participated in this event, which resumed after three years since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ice Trekking Festival was also designated as a 'Preliminary Cultural Tourism Festival for 2024-2025' by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Being selected as a preliminary cultural tourism festival grants eligibility to apply for cultural tourism festivals in the future and provides various support such as big data analysis and improvements in accommodation readiness.

Hyun Joon-tae, Director of the Gangwon Province Tourism Bureau, said, "The selection of the Cheorwon Hantan River Ice Trekking Festival as one of only 20 preliminary cultural tourism festivals nationwide is a great achievement for Gangwon Province’s representative winter festival," adding, "We will make it a festival that represents Gangwon Province in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.