No snow yet. Snow depth and the seven-day outlook appear here once snow starts to fall. Until then, the long-run record comes first.
- Elevation
- 537–622 m
- Across
- 0.6 km
Akabane Ski Resort, in Iwate, Japan, runs from 537 m at the base to 622 m at the top. Its mapped area is about 0.6 km across, with 6 marked runs and 3 lifts (about 1.5 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 109 cm of snowfall a season, 370th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2014/15 (88 cm), reached 81% of the average. January is usually the snowiest month, with about 34 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 11.1 km away measured 87 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 114 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −2.2°C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 351st of 397 in Japan.
Below are links to a road camera on the way up.
How much snow it gets
Measured by us across 3,069 ski areas by one identical method. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
The tick marks the median across every Japanese ski area we measure. All four bars run the same way — longer is better.
The quality score deliberately excludes how much snow falls — it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind. Snowing a lot and snowing well are different things.
Runs and lifts
Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Run map
Slope shape, difficulty and lift types
The shape of the mountain
Which way the slopes face
99% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Rope tow3
See past trail maps on Skimap.org ↗
Source: OpenSkiMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Vertical is the difference between the highest and lowest points of the mapped runs and lifts.
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 76% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). For skiing, though, the amount matters more than the share: March brings 26 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 109 cm, and 8 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2014/15 with 88 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 164 cm (1.9 times as much).
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
These snowfall figures are model estimates. On Japanese mountains they come to about 60% of what is actually measured (checked against 63 Japan Meteorological Agency stations). Don't set them beside a resort's own published totals; use them to compare ski areas and read the ranks. How we measure
Live cameras
This ski area does not put a camera on its own slopes. The nearest live view is the road below.
Road conditions decide whether you can get there at all. Check before you leave.
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 遠野 weather station — 11.1 km from this ski area, 307 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 87 cm |
| 2023/24 | 53 cm |
| 2024/25 | 95 cm |
| 2025/26 | 112 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 114 cm.
A weather station is not a ski slope. We picked one at a similar elevation, but it stands in a valley or a village. More snow falls on the mountain above it. We have not tried to guess how much more.
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency historical records
Worth seeing nearby
Places within 20 km (straight line) of this ski area, for a day off the slopes or an evening. Chosen from those most read about on Wikipedia, favouring places with an English Wikipedia article, and listed nearest first. Some lie over a mountain pass that is closed in winter.
Show the list
| Place | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Rokan Cave滝観洞 | Nature | 7.7 km |
| 遠野市立博物館・図書館 | Museum | 10.6 km |
| Tōno Folktale Museumとおの物語の館 | Museum | 10.8 km |
| Kappa-buchiカッパ淵 | Nature | 12.1 km |
| Denshōen伝承園 | Museum | 12.5 km |
| Hashino iron mining and smelting site橋野高炉跡 | Historic site | 13.2 km |
Based on the Japanese Wikipedia lists of sights in each prefecture, as compiled in travel-log-data (CC BY-SA 4.0). English names from Wikidata (CC0). The content of this section is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map
The weather map, and where it sits among nearby ski areas.
We have not yet checked the family facilities (kids’ area, childcare, parking, rental) on the official site.
Places to stay nearbyPR
Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese.
1 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within about 3 km of this ski area. The table shows the nearest 1 with a listed price.
| Property | From (per person, tax incl.) | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lien遠野 | ¥9,000 | — | 3.3 km | 遠野駅よりお車で約15分、三陸自動車道遠野住田ICより約5分 |
Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese. · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Places to stay on the map
2 places within 12 km of the slopes, as mapped on OpenStreetMap, including small inns and pensions that are on no booking site. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the name for the website or the map.
Nearest: 10.7 km
Show the nearest places
Nearest first
- あえりあ遠野 10.7 km
- Takamuro Suikoen 11.9 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
“ad” marks links that pay us a commission if you book. Links without it are not affiliated.
What we have measured at Akabane Ski Resort
- The Deepest Snow You Can Sleep in an Old Japanese House Is Not Shirakawa-go We measured the snow at seven villages where you can stay in traditional architecture, and how far each is from a lift. Shirakawa-go is 15.6 km from a middling ski hill. Shiozawa is 2.2 km from the world's =67th snowiest.