Japan · Shimane

Kotobiki Forest Park Ski Area

琴引フォレストパークスキー場

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

129cm

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: 548–703 m
Across: 1.0 km

Step onto the snow and the first thing in sight is the kids' park and its giant mammoth slide, free to use. The car park adjoins the slope and costs nothing. Night skiing is available only as a pre-booked private hire, with no public evening sessions. Sources: ski.kotobiki.co.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

129cm

per season

Worst of 12 winters

71cm

The middle winter of the 12: 133 cm. The best: 201 cm.

World rank

1976

of 3,069 worldwide

Rank in country

349

of 397 in Japan

Elevation rank

241

Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 605 m, 161 m below the national median.

Quality rank

356

of 397 in Japan

Temp when snowing

−1.6°C

Japanese median: −3.6°C

Rain days

29%

Japanese median: 16%

Days over 5 cm

Japanese median: 15%

Wind when snowing

23km/h

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

Dryness 26

Frequency 23

Freedom from rain 35

Calm when snowing (model grid) 91

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).

Compared with what is nearby

Within 50 km in a straight line. Ski areas in the same weather-model cell (about 30 km across) get the same figure.

Ski area	Distance	Seasonal snowfall	World rank
Kenmin no Mori Ski Area	27.0 km	116 cm	2148
Snow Resort Nekoyama	39.0 km	105 cm	2319
Dogoyama-Kougen Ski Resort	40.0 km	105 cm	2319
Mizuho Highland	45.0 km	102 cm	2346

Compare side by side with Kenmin no Mori Ski Area and Snow Resort Nekoyama →

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

3.7km

Lifts

Vertical

155m

Top 703 m · base 548 m

Run map

NoviceEasyIntermediate 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 pitch24°measured over at least 30 m

Average gradient of the runs11.1°

Which way the slopes face

North 37%

East 0%

South 0%

West 62%

Only 37% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. The most common direction is west (62%).

By difficulty

Novice 1 · 0.4 km

Easy 5 · 2.6 km

Intermediate 1 · 0.7 km

Lift types

Chairlift3

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 31% 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 15 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.

32cm

Dec

48cm

Jan

35cm

Feb

15cm

Mar

Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters

Winter by winter

Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 129 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 71 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 201 cm (2.8 times as much).

102

177

159

114

141

149

126

201

139

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

On the mountain琴引フォレストパークスキー場 ↗The live stream is paused (checked 9 Nov). Check the official page for when it returns.Roads nearby国道54号 ↗From the resort: 8.6 kmOperated by: 中国地方整備局松江国道事務所

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

Videos

琴引フォレストパークPV

OfficialBy: 琴引フォレストパークスキー場 · 6 Dec

水たまりを使ったウォータージャンプブーツはグチャグチャになるけど気持ちいい

Rider footageBy: 広島スノーボードふーちゃん · 22 Feb

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

What was actually measured nearby

Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 赤名 weather station — 7.8 km from this ski area, 202 m below its mid-slope.

Three-season average	282 cm
2023/24	173 cm
2024/25	432 cm
2025/26	242 cm

The figure calculated on this page is 155 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

Hot springs nearby, as analysed

2 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 15 °C).

Show the sources

Source	Distance	Temperature	pH	Type	Analysed
加田温泉来島温泉	3.3 km	14.5℃ cold	—	chloride, bicarbonate	1969
頓原温泉	3.8 km	15℃ cold	6.22 neutral	chloride, bicarbonate, radioactive (radon)	1965

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.

Show the list

Place	Type	Distance
Kan'nosekyō Prefectural Natural Park神之瀬峡県立自然公園	Nature	6.3 km
Sanbe Onsen三瓶温泉	Hot spring town	15 km
Ryuzu Yaedaki Waterfalls龍頭八重滝	Nature	16 km
Mount Sanbe三瓶山	Nature	16.8 km
Shimane Nature Museum of Mt. Sanbe島根県立三瓶自然館	Museum	17.7 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
古屋敷ガーデン中西 ^	¥11,009	—	2.8 km	三次駅から車で48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

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.

Nearest: 8 km

Show the nearest places

Nearest first

憩いの郷　衣掛 8.0 km

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.

Guides covering Shimane

Where the snow falls · 5 Sep 2026

Is Western Japan Snowier Than It Looks? Our Model Against the Weather Stations

Western Japan's ski areas look thin in our data — a median of 125 cm against a national 249 cm. Against 16 Japan Meteorological Agency stations, the model we use returns 44% of what the ground records there. The region is far snowier than our own numbers say.

Read the guide → All guides →