In this place of winter beauty, where meadows host sheep,
where the cuisine is rooted in the Earth,
and roads have mastered mountains,
it seems fitting these games of the 23rd
Winter Olympics are in the Alps of Asia, in South Korea,
in a place called PyeongChang.
Here, on alpine heights, a ski jump towers on a mountain.
At a resort where skiers now play, the likes of Shaun White
and Gus Kenworthy will take to the slopes to playfully flip
and jump the freestyle way.
And 17-year-old Chloe Kim could be the youngest
American to medal in snowboarding.
Snow will fall here, maybe not all from the heavens,
but at the hands of humans.
This region sits at a lower altitude
and just doesn't get much snow.
But the air is cold, perfect for making it.
From mountain heights, the games go to the sea,
the East Sea and the coastal city of Gangneung.
Here, the journey will be short, a walk from hockey to skating.
Inside this arena, what's concrete becomes ice.
Soft for figure skaters, jumping and landing.
Skaters like 18-year-old Nathan Chen, master of quadruple jumps.
Then the ice melts and gets remade for short
track speed skating,
which needs harder, faster ice.
Getting to these mountains will take a different kind of speed,
on a fast train built for the occasion.
An hour and a half from the capital
Seoul, where many spectators will stay.
Some 100,000 are expected daily,
though ticket sales have been slow.
We have about 6,500 athletes, coaches, entourage and officials
that are coming to the Olympic Games.
And we're hoping they're going to say
this is a really great competition.
It is the greatest games on Earth.
I'm walking where ski jumpers will walk
on the way to their jump.
Up there. Way up there.
One thing you'll notice about PyeongChang is the wind.
It's going to be a factor both for competitors
and for visitors.
The Olympic Stadium seats 35,000.
It's where the Games begin and end.
The opening and closing ceremonies happen here,
where the wind whips and there's no roof.
The air is brisk and so is the speed of the program,
so spectators aren't sitting for hours.
Also not staying long, the stadium.
If it looks temporary, it is.
After the Games, it will be reconfigured.
The seats removed and the structure partially demolished.
What's left becomes an Olympics museum.
These games happen in the shadow of two headlines.
Their flag may fly today but Russia as a team is not here,
though some athletes are.
The country that hosted the last Winter Olympics
four years ago is banned for doping.
A different kind of tension
is some 50 miles to the north of here,
the border of North Korea.
The South is calling these Olympics the peace games.
And they may just be that.
In a surprise move, North Korea is here, its athletes competing,
and marching under a single flag with the south.
At this PyeongChang dumpling shop,
no worries about simmering tensions.
The world is descending on the Alps of Asia,
and it's happening right across the street.