Information about Skiing in Japan
Information about Skiing in Japan
We picked up ski resorts, which have slopes with the longest distance of 6,000 m or more and make ranking as a following table. Nozawa Onsen is in the 1st position, which has a length of 10,000m, followed by three ski resorts of Myoko Suginohara, Zao Onsen, and Hakuba Happo one which has 8,000m to 8,500m. The data of longest distance of each ski resort are one of an indication to know the scale of the resort. The Longest distance of some ski resorts includes forest road courses for beginner (course just like a road). The detailed information about top 4 ski resorts are introduced on the following page.
| Rank | Resort | Location | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Nozawa Onsen | Nagano Pref. | 10,000m |
| 2nd | Myoko Suginohara | Nigata Pref. | 8,500m |
| 3rd | Zao Onsen | Yamagata Pref. | 8,000m |
| 4th | Hakuba Happo One | Nagano Pref. | 8,000m |
| 5th | Ontake 2240 | Nagano Pref. | 7,000m |
| 6th | HAKUBA47 | Nagano Pref. | 6,400m |
| 7th | Sapporo Teine | Hokkaido | 6,000m |
| 7th | Joetsu Kokusai | Nigata Pref. | 6,000m |
| 7th | Kagura | Nigata Pref. | 6,000m |
| 7th | Ryuou Sow Park | Nagano Pref. | 6,000m |
| 7th | Maiko Snow Resort | Nigata Pref. | 6,000m |
| 7th | Tengendai Kogen | Yamagata Pref. | 6,000m |
The longest route of Nozawa Onsen consists of 4 courses. It starts from "Yamabiko area" located near the peak of the ski resort. The skier can enjoy powder snow and beautiful scenery from the top of the mountain at an altitude of 1,650m. Then skiing in the wide, gentle "Uenodaira slope" and "Paradise slope". After that, going down to the base via Forest road course. The total length of these courses are 10,000m which is the longest in Japan!
There is another long cruising route. This route have 4,500 of length and consists of "Yamabiko area" and "Skyline course" and "Karasawa slope" On the Yamabiko-area skier can enjoy fine powder snow and in the Skyline course can enjoy skiing with panoramic view. The highlight of this route is the vertical drop of approx. 1000m.
Myoko Suginohara is located in Myoko City, Niigata Prefecture. The longest slope of Myoko Suginohara is 8,500m and it consists of 5courses, "Shakunage course", "Panorama-connecting course", "Suginohara connecting course", "Downhill course", and "Shirakaba family course". The total vertical drop of these slopes become 1,123m in total (1855m -> 731m). In the "Shakunage course" located near the peak you can enjoy the majestic panorama view and high quality powder snow. "Downhill course" is one of the popular cruising course of Myoko Suhinohara and you can enjoy comfortable high speed turns. The goal of this route is "Family course" which has gentle beginner slope.
The longest route of Zao Onsen has the length of 8,000m and consists of 4 slopes such as "Zange-zaka", "Yutopia", "Hyakumannin" etc.. The beginning is the "Zange-zaka" on which you can enjoy watching beautiful scenery made by "Snow Monsters" especially at near the peak. Although it is indicated as intermediate course, it is narrow and a little difficult for low-end intermediates. After that you can enjoy comfortable cruising in Jyuhyo-gen course surronded by "Snow Monsters". Then you go into the wide, comfortable slopes "Yutopoia", "Hyakumanin" . The goal of the route is "Yokokura slope". The total vertical drop of these slopes becomes 800m in total (1661m -> 855m).
Hakuba Happo One ski resort is a large-scale ski resort located in Hakuba village in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture. It has 220 hectare terrain, 23 lifts and 1,071 meters vertical difference. The longest route has 8.000m of length. It starts from the peak of the resort and go down to the "Sakka slope". Actually it includes long forest road course. We can say most popular long cruising course in Happo one is "Risen Slalom course". It is the long run with 3,050m length and 800m vertical difference. This specification is very rare in Japan. High speed long carved turn can be traced across the broad, long, perfectly groomed slope.
