Ikawa Ski Resort

井川スキー場

Off season

No snow yet. Not open yet for 2026/27. We have not yet found an official opening date. Snow depth and the seven-day outlook appear once snow is on the ground or forecast.

Typical snowfall

88cm

A weather-model figure, worked out the same way for every ski area, and lower than what actually falls. Use it to compare ski areas, not against the resort’s own totals. How we measure →

Elevation: 1,081–1,172 m
Across: 0.6 km

The resort bills itself as the first in Shikoku to open each season. Only the top of the expert Takuira course is covered with machine-made snow; its middle and lower sections open only after natural snowfall. The slopes are on Mount Kaina in Miyoshi. Sources: ikawaski.jp (sources read 13 Oct 2026; an AI draft the site operator has not yet checked)

How much snow it gets

Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.

Seasonal snowfall

88cm

per season

Worst of 12 winters

19cm

The middle winter of the 12: 90 cm. The best: 144 cm.

World rank

2500

of 3,069 worldwide

Rank in country

383

of 397 in Japan

Elevation rank

Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 1,113 m, 347 m above the national median.

Quality rank

367

of 397 in Japan

Temp when snowing

−3.3°C

Japanese median: −3.6°C

Rain days

27%

Japanese median: 16%

Days over 5 cm

Japanese median: 15%

Wind when snowing

20km/h

Average daily peak, 10 m above ground across a model grid cell; not the wind on ridges or lift tops

Dryness 38

Frequency 14

Freedom from rain 35

Calm when snowing (model grid) 94

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 leaves out how much snow falls (it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind).

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.

Marked runs

Run length

1.8km

Lifts

Vertical

91m

Top 1,172 m · base 1,081 m

Run map

NoviceIntermediateAdvanced Lift

North is up. Runs are coloured by difficulty; black lines are lifts.

Slope shape, difficulty and lift types

The shape of the mountain

Longest run on the map0.8 km

Steepest pitch22°measured over at least 30 m

Average gradient of the runs9.3°

Which way the slopes face

North 46%

East 8%

South 0%

West 46%

54% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east; plenty of the terrain faces the sun as well, so the lean is modest.

By difficulty

Novice 2 · 1 km

Intermediate 1 · 0.4 km

Advanced 1 · 0.4 km

Lift types

Chairlift2

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

The most snow falls in January. March brings 40% of January’s snowfall. That is a steeper fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%): the snow here is concentrated early in the season. In amount, March brings 12 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.

23cm

Dec

30cm

Jan

23cm

Feb

12cm

Mar

Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters

Winter by winter

Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 88 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 19 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 144 cm (7.6 times as much).

123

119

133

119

144

14/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/2323/2424/2525/26

Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.

How these figures are made

Live cameras

This ski area does not put a camera on its own slopes. The nearest live view is the road below.

Roads nearby国道32号 ↗From the resort: 9.6 kmOperated by: 四国地方整備局道路部

Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.

Videos

井川スキー場腕山　閉館

By: IDOが行く · 22 Feb

静岡市唯一のスキー場「リバウェル井川スキー場」がようやくオープン　暖冬の影響で当初の予定よりおよそ１カ月遅れ

By: 静岡朝日テレビニュース · 17 Jan

Videos remain the copyright of whoever filmed them. JAPANSNOWLINE stores no video and plays everything through the standard YouTube player.

Worth seeing nearby

Within 20 km in a straight line, nearest first. Some lie over a pass that is closed in winter.

Show the list

Place	Type	Distance
Ikawa Ski Resort Kainayama井川スキー場腕山	Nature	0.1 km
Iya Onsen祖谷温泉	Hot spring town	7.8 km
Iya Valley祖谷渓	Nature	8.7 km
Hashikurasan Ropeway箸蔵山ロープウェイ	Landmark	9.6 km
Kazura bridge at the Iya Valleyかずら橋	Landmark	10.7 km
Unpen-ji Temple雲辺寺	Temple	17 km

Chosen from the places most read about on Wikipedia, favouring those with an English article. 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.

Official piste map ↗

Getting there

Get directions ↗ Open in Google Maps ↗

Going with children

Kids’ area: Yes (details in Japanese on the official site)
Childcare: Not checked
Parking: Yes (details in Japanese on the official site)
Rental: Not checked

Checked on the official site (13 Oct 2026) · Source. “Not checked” means we have not looked yet. Compare with other ski areas →

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 (links to Rakuten Travel)	Lowest listed (per person, tax incl.)	Rating	Distance	Getting there
勇楼旅館	¥6,500	4.29／5 24 reviews	7.4 km	JR 辻駅より徒歩にて5分

Pick dates and guests to check rooms on Rakuten Travel

Prices are the lowest Rakuten Travel lists; a property name, or “Pick dates and guests” above, shows prices and rooms for your dates.

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

59 places within 12 km of the slopes, as mapped on OpenStreetMap, many of them small inns and pensions. Many are not on booking sites — open the name for the website or the map.

Nearest: 4.7 km

Show the nearest places

Nearest first

Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap

Other booking sites: Booking.com ↗ · Agoda ↗ · Rakuten Travelad ↗

“ad” marks links that pay us a commission if you book. Links without it are not affiliated.

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