The 2026/27 season is planned to open on 28 Nov (the resort’s announcement; it moves with the snow). The snowfall below is a model figure and does not mean the slopes are skiable.
This season is planned to run until 5 May (the resort’s announcement).
Base depth
17cm
Snow 48h
3cm
Next 72h
0cm
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 →
Snow 24h
1 cm
Next 24h
0 cm
Temperature
−9°C
Max wind
10 km/h
Elevation
523–1,180 m
This season so far (1 Nov to 9 Nov): 23 cm, 185% of the average for the same dates. The average is over twelve winters on the same weather model. Across Japan →
Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15
7-day outlook
Date
Weather
Snow (cm)
Low / high (°C)
Wind (km/h)
Tue 10 Nov
Snow
1
−12 to −6
13
Wed 11 Nov
Cloudy
0
−11 to −1
10
Thu 12 Nov
Fog
0
−2 to 6
22
Fri 13 Nov
Drizzle
0
1 to 7
22
Sat 14 Nov
Cloudy
0
−1 to 7
15
Sun 15 Nov
Drizzle
0
0 to 7
11
Mon 16 Nov
Snow showers
4
−5 to 1
24
Score breakdown
Fresh (48h)7/40
Forecast (24h)1/25
Snow quality20/20
Wind10/10
Base1/5
The five add up to the 100-point Powder Score: more fresh snow, more on the way and colder air all push it up. How we measure
The hotels and the slopes sit together between two mountains, and the gondola climbs to the summit of Mount Asari. Tree runs and off-piste zones have their own names and are listed separately from the regular runs. Driving from Sapporo or Otaru, leave the expressway at the Asari interchange and take Route 393. Sources: kiroro.co.jp, akaigawa.com (sources read 11 Oct 2026; reviewed by the editor)
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
37
Run length
25km
Lifts
10
Vertical
657m
Top 1,180 m · base 523 m
Run map
EasyIntermediateAdvancedLift
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 map1.8 km
Steepest pitch34°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs9.9°
Which way the slopes face
North21%
East2%
South6%
West71%
Only 23% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. The most common direction is west (71%).
The most snow falls in January. March brings 72% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 69 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
86cmDec
96cmJan
81cmFeb
69cmMar
Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 331 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 209 cm; the biggest was 2021/22 with 442 cm (2.1 times as much).
1 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 67 °C).
Show the sources
Source
Distance
Temperature
pH
赤井川ヤマハリゾート井
0.9 km
67℃ hot
7.4 neutral
These are analyses of hot spring sources, not a list of baths you can visit. They date from 1910 to 2005, many from decades ago, so today’s temperature and chemistry may differ. Names are as recorded in Japanese. Temperature and pH bands follow Japan’s standard for analysing hot springs.
Source: processed from the hot spring analysis data in the Geothermal Information Database (GRES-DB), Geological Survey of Japan, AIST
Worth seeing nearby
Within 20 km in a straight line, nearest first. Some lie over a pass that is closed in winter.
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.
about 30 minutes from Asari IC on the Sasson Expressway (about 60 minutes from Sapporo-Nishi IC)
Winter roads
The bus from Otaru runs from 28 November 2026 to 25 April 2027, and the Kiroro Ski Bus from Sapporo from 10 December 2026 to 11 April 2027 (booking and times on the official winter access page)
Source: kiroro.co.jp · checked 7 Nov 2026. Shuttle days and times change with the season; check the official site before you go.
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
1 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.
We counted twelve Decembers at all 397 Japanese ski areas. Of those averaging 60 cm or more, 40 of Hokkaido's 46 kept over half their normal December even in their worst year. In Honshu and the west, 23 of 196 did. In December 2015, the last very strong El Niño, 250 of 397 ski areas came in below half.