Sknowed Blog | Snow Forecasts, Ski Maps & Resort Updates

Skiing In Japan – Most Common Questions

What are the Best Ski Resorts in Japan? Japan is known for its world-class ski resorts that offer excellent powder snow and a unique skiing experience. Some of the best ski resorts in Japan include: Niseko: Located in Hokkaido, Niseko is famous for its abundant snowfall and diverse terrain suitable for all skill levels. It offers a vibrant international ski scene, with a range of accommodation options, restaurants, and nightlife. Hakuba Valley Ski Resort: Located in Nagano, this is one of Japan’s largest ski resorts that boast 10 mountains within close proximatey of each other. The skiing and apres ski are excellent...

Read More

Japanese Ski Run Difficulty Ratings

Japan’s Ski Run Rating System: An Overview When skiing or snowboarding in Japan, you might notice that ski run difficulty ratings differ from those in other countries. Unlike North America or Europe, Japan uses a simplified system to classify slopes. According to Wikipedia, most Japanese ski resorts categorize their runs into three primary levels: beginner, intermediate, and expert. However, there’s no standardized definition for each level across all resorts. This means the difficulty of a “beginner” run at one resort might not exactly match a “beginner” run at another. Skiers and snowboarders should always proceed with caution and pay attention to...

Read More

End of the Ski Season in Hakuba Valley

There was a great dump of snow in Hakuba Valley in 2022. Due to the amount of snow dumped in the 21/22 ski season, the end of the ski season in Hakuba in 2022 lasted until Golden Week, a series of four national holidays in the span of a week at the end of April and the beginning of May. Weather and Snow Conditions sign at Hakube Sotyu in the Spring of 2022 On May 7th, people arrived at the foot of Goryu ready to hit their last snow of the season. It was 13c on May 7,...

Read More

freshsnow.jp is live – Ski Resort Map

Japan has a lot of ski resorts!  In fact, snowjapan.com states Japan has about 450.  For me, Japan is the most perfect place in the world.  It is an archipeligo of 4 main islands stretching significantly north, south, east and west.  The geography, the weather and seasons are amazing.  Winter is of course my favorite.  In February in Tokyo, it is often sunny but cool.  Not shorts’ weather at all but certainly not excessively cold.  Jump in a bullet train for 1.5 hrs and *poof*, you are at a ski resort where it is snowing!  Japan is blessed with a mountain range through the...

Read More

Hakuba Ski Resort Consists of 10 Ski Mountains

Hakuba, an overall awesome resort and one of Japan’s largest resorts with an extremely snowy winter!  In fact, the average snow fall per season from 1991 to 2020 was just over 13m per season (See Habuba’s average snowfall from 1991 to 2020 here).  This is also where the 1998 Winter Olympic Games were held.  In total, there are 10 ski mountains located in the Hakuba Resort as follows; Jiigaike Snow Resort – 爺ガ岳スキー場 Kashimayari Snow Resort – 鹿島槍スキー場 Hakuba Sanosaka Snow Resort – 白馬さのさかスキー場 Hakuba Goryu – 白馬五竜スキー場 Hakuba 47 – 白馬４７スキー場 (Hakuba Goryu and Hakuba 47 are sold as one mountain and the same lift ticket). Happo One – 八方尾根スキー場 Hakuba Iwatake...

Read More

Japan’s Highest Altitude Ski Resort, Mt Yokote

Worried about global warming?  Mt Yokote is Japan’s highest ski mountain!  The summit is 2,306 meters high and the base is 1,702 meters, giving it a total vertical of 604 meters.  Certainly, the views from 2300+ meters are excellent, on a clear day.  Yokote is located in a Shiga Kogen that is made up of 18 ski mountains so while 604 meters of vertical may not be a lot, the area has an enormous number of other mountain to ski! https://blog.sknowed.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/yokoteyama.mp4

Read More