Japan · Fukushima

Urabandai Ski Resort

裏磐梯スキー場
Off season
Official site

No snow on the ground or falling right now. 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
347cm

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
908–1,104 m
Across
1.4 km

This season so far (1 Nov to 9 Nov): 6 cm. The average for these dates is under 10 cm, so we do not give a percentage yet. The average is over twelve winters on the same weather model. Across Japan →

Beyond the top of the lifts, a path through the forest on the crater floor leads to Akanuma Pond, which freezes over in winter so you can walk across it. Guided snowshoe tours go on to the Yellow Fall, a yellow ice fall that forms in an explosion crater only in the coldest part of winter. In the ski centre's indoor practice room, children learn how to put on their skis before heading out. Sources: urabandai-ski.jp, tif.ne.jp, urabandai-inf.com (sources read 12 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
347cm
per season
Worst of 12 winters
235cm
The middle winter of the 12: 333 cm. The best: 454 cm.
World rank
289
of 3,069 worldwide
Rank in country
108
of 397 in Japan
Elevation rank
132
Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 970 m, 204 m above the national median.
Quality rank
70
of 397 in Japan
Temp when snowing
−5.4°C
Japanese median: −3.6°C
Rain days
15%
Japanese median: 16%
Days over 5 cm
22%
Japanese median: 15%
Wind when snowing
22km/h
Average daily peak, 10 m above ground across a model grid cell; not the wind on ridges or lift tops
Dryness 53
Frequency 62
Freedom from rain 61
Calm when snowing (model grid) 92

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 areaDistanceSeasonal snowfallWorld rank
Nekoma Mountain3.1 km347 cmsame grid cell289
Inawashiro Snow Paradise5.6 km258 cm673
Grandeco Snow Resort10.0 km379 cm206
Listel Ski Fantasia12.0 km246 cm761
Numajiri Ski15.0 km283 cm554

Compare side by side with Nekoma Mountain and Inawashiro Snow Paradise →

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
3
Run length
2.6km
Lifts
3
Vertical
196m
Top 1,104 m · base 908 m

Run map

NoviceEasyIntermediate Lift
North is up. Runs are coloured by difficulty; black lines are lifts.Lifts that run far beyond the ski area are cut at the edge of the map.
Run map

Drag to move around, and use + and − to zoom. On a phone, swipe to move and pinch to zoom in further.

Slope shape, difficulty and lift types

The shape of the mountain

Longest run on the map1.3 km
Steepest pitch28°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs9.8°

Which way the slopes face

North 96%
East 3%
South 0%
West 1%

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

Novice 1 · 1.3 km
Easy 1 · 1 km
Intermediate 1 · 0.3 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 54% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 62 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.

98cm
Dec
114cm
Jan
73cm
Feb
62cm
Mar
Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters

Winter by winter

Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 347 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 235 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 454 cm (1.9 times as much).

374
235
420
417
325
328
327
347
337
308
454
294
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. What follows are nearby cameras, not the pistes themselves.

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

Some cameras here are provided by Windy.com. Footage plays in Windy’s own player; we do not store it. Windy.com

Hot springs nearby, as analysed

4 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 55.1 °C).

Show the sources
SourceDistanceTemperaturepHType
磐梯中の湯1.8 km55.1℃ hot3.6 mildly acidicsimple
土湯沢土湯沢山小屋2.6 km43℃ hot6.8 neutral—
川上湯沼第13.1 km37.8℃ warm5.9 mildly acidic—
磐惣ばんだい上尾荘3.6 km50.3℃ hot8 mildly alkaline—

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
PlaceTypeDistance
Goshiki-numa五色沼 (北塩原村)Nature2.8 km
Mount Bandai磐梯山Mountain3.1 km
Bandai Highlands磐梯高原Mountain3.3 km
Morohashi Museum of Modern Art諸橋近代美術館Museum3.7 km
Lake Hibara桧原湖Nature5.3 km
Lake Inawashiro猪苗代湖Nature16.4 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 ↗

Going with children

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

Checked on the official site (26 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.

7 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within about 3 km of this ski area. The table shows the nearest 7 with a listed price.

Property (links to Rakuten Travel)Lowest listed (per person, tax incl.)RatingDistanceGetting there
裏磐梯高原ホテル ¥30,0004.80/5 196 reviews2.3 kmJR猪苗代駅下車/磐越自動車道 猪苗代磐梯高原ICより約25分
裏磐梯レイクリゾート 迎賓館 猫魔離宮(旧:裏磐梯猫魔ホテル) ¥10,3004.54/5 821 reviews2.5 kmJR猪苗代駅より車で約30分(無料送迎バス有)。猪苗代磐梯高原ICより車で約25分。
裏磐梯レイクリゾート 本館 五色の森(旧:裏磐梯猫魔ホテル) ¥10,8004.24/5 2120 reviews2.5 kmJR猪苗代駅より車で約30分(無料送迎バス有)。猪苗代磐梯高原ICより車で約25分。
ホテリ・アアルト ¥24,5004.88/5 45 reviews3.6 km郡山駅から磐越西線で猪苗代駅下車 送迎車で約20分
秋元屋旅館 ¥9,3504.33/5 18 reviews3.9 km東北本線郡山駅・磐越西線猪苗代駅・バスで秋元湖入口から徒歩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

13 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: 2.3 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.

Guides covering Fukushima

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