【スキー場レポ】１年ぶりの山形蔵王温泉スキー場でやられました。リアルにヤバイ！視界不良の山頂を舐めたらアカン！ドカ雪パウダーを堪能！
By: 自由人704チャンネル · 10 Feb
Japan · Yamagata
Zao Onsen
蔵王温泉スキー場
Off season
Official site Lift tickets (official) 2026/27 adult day ticket ¥9,000 peak (26 Dec – 3 Jan, 30 Jan – 28 Feb) (checked 15 Sept)
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.
Typical snowfall
258cm
- Elevation
- 792–1,661 m
Near the summit, the winter monsoon coats the Maries' firs in snow and ice until they turn into juhyo, the so-called snow monsters. The Juhyogen course, reached by the upper section of the Zao Ropeway, threads its way down between them. The village at the foot of the slopes sits on a strongly acidic sulphur spring, with public bathhouses at Kamiyu, Shimoyu and Kawarayu. Sources: zaoropeway.co.jp、yamagatakanko.com、zaomountainresort.com (sources read 12 Oct 2026)
Below are links to 2 official live cameras, plus 4 road cameras 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.
Seasonal snowfall
258cm
per season
Worst of 12 winters
129cm
The middle winter of the 12: 260 cm. The best: 357 cm.
World rank
673
of 3,069 worldwide
Rank in country
177
of 397 in Japan
Elevation rank
77
Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 1,200 m, 434 m above the national median.
Quality rank
80
of 397 in Japan
Temp when snowing
−6.2°C
Japanese median: −3.5°C
Rain days
13%
Japanese median: 16%
Days over 5 cm
17%
Japanese median: 15%
Wind when snowing
21km/h
Dryness 58
Frequency 48
Freedom from rain 66
Calm when snowing 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).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zao Liza World | 4.2 km | 254 cm | 701 |
| Zao Sarukura | 4.5 km | 253 cm | 704 |
| Miyagi Zao Sumikawasu Snow Park | 7.7 km | 258 cmsame grid cell | 673 |
| Miyagi Zao Eboshi Resort | 10.0 km | 254 cm | 701 |
| Miyagi Zao Shiroishi Ski Resort | 14.0 km | 190 cm | 1240 |
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
91
Run length
39km
Lifts
35
Vertical
869m
Top 1,661 m · base 792 m
Run map
NoviceEasyIntermediateAdvanced Lift
Slope shape, difficulty and lift types
The shape of the mountain
Longest run on the map1.8 km
Steepest pitch32°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs10.9°
Which way the slopes face
North 29%
East 6%
South 8%
West 57%
Only 35% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Novice 24 · 16.1 km
Easy 44 · 13.7 km
Intermediate 17 · 7.1 km
Advanced 6 · 2.4 km
Lift types
- Chairlift31
- Gondola2
- Cable car2
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 58% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 51 cm, about the same as the median of 46 cm.
67cmDec
88cmJan
53cmFeb
51cmMar
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 258 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 129 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 357 cm (2.8 times as much). For 63% of the 397 ski areas in Japan, the leanest winter was the same 2015/16.
183
129
283
305
264
253
256
280
252
292
357
243
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.
Model estimates: on Japanese mountains they run at about 60% of measured snowfall. Compare ranks, not resort-published totals. How we measure
Live cameras
Roads nearby国道13号 ↗From the resort: 15 kmOperated by: 東北地方整備局 山形河川国道事務所Roads nearby中央ロープウェイ第一駐車場 ↗Operated by: 蔵王索道協会Roads nearby大森駐車場 ↗Operated by: 蔵王索道協会Roads nearby蔵王ロープウェイ駐車場 ↗Operated by: 蔵王索道協会
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
Zao webcams & snow report — all 7 ski areas →
See the snow in motion
Videos remain the copyright of whoever filmed them. JAPANSNOWLINE stores no video and plays everything through the standard YouTube player.
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 64.6 °C).
Show the sources
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 蔵王上の川 | 1.3 km | 64.6℃ hot | 1.3 acidic | sulphur, iron, acidic | — |
| ニュー蔵王 | 4.1 km | 37℃ warm | 8.6 alkaline | alkaline simple | — |
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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zaō Ropeway蔵王ロープウェイ | Landmark | 1.1 km |
| Mount Zaō蔵王連峰 | Mountain | 3.9 km |
| Okama御釜 (蔵王連峰) | Nature | 4.6 km |
| Kaminoyama Castle上山城 | Historic site | 11.4 km |
| Yamagata Station山形駅 | Landmark | 12 km |
| Yama-dera Temple立石寺 | Temple | 17.1 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.
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
- Yes (details in Japanese on the official site)
Checked on the official site (12 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.
56 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within about 3 km of this ski area. The table shows the nearest 12 with a listed price.
| Property | Lowest listed (per person, tax incl.) | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 蔵王温泉 ホテル ラルジャン蔵王 | ¥7,700 | 4.26／5 179 reviews | 0.8 km | JR山形新幹線「山形駅」よりバスで40分 / 山形自動車道 山形蔵王ICより20分 |
| 蔵王温泉 堺屋森のホテルヴァルトベルク | ¥8,250 | 4.38／5 904 reviews | 0.9 km | 山形駅よりバスで蔵王温泉行終点まで約40分。下車徒歩15分/バスターミナル送迎有り(要予約) |
| 蔵王アストリアホテル | ¥8,800 | 4.26／5 149 reviews | 0.9 km | JR 山形駅より蔵王温泉行きバスにて45分 |
| 蔵王温泉 ル・ベール蔵王 | ¥11,000 | 4.16／5 210 reviews | 0.9 km | JR山形駅/山交バス「蔵王温泉」行乗車/終点下車 |
| 蔵王つららぎの宿 花ゆらん | ¥12,100 | 4.00／5 104 reviews | 0.9 km | 山形駅から蔵王温泉までタクシーで30分・バスで45分 / 蔵王ICから西蔵王高原ライン経由 蔵王温泉まで30分 |
| 蔵王温泉 蔵王国際ホテル | ¥13,860 | 4.76／5 1534 reviews | 0.9 km | ●蔵王温泉BT~無料送迎有※到着時要連絡/●山形駅~無料送迎有※詳細は公式HPをご確認ください(3日前までの予約制) |
| ZAO BASE | ¥3,800 | — | 1.0 km | 蔵王温泉のバス停から徒歩7分 蔵王中央ロープウエイと蔵王ロープウエイの中間にございます |
| 蔵王温泉 暖炉の宿 ロッヂスガノ | ¥5,000 | 4.56／5 24 reviews | 1.0 km | 山形駅よりお車にて50分 |
| 蔵王温泉 ホテル喜らく | ¥5,829 | 4.50／5 357 reviews | 1.0 km | JR山形駅よりバスにて40分/車:山形蔵王ICより西蔵王高原ラインを通り約30分 |
| 蔵王温泉 最上高湯 善七乃湯(旧:蔵王温泉 大平ホテル) | ¥11,000 | 4.46／5 624 reviews | 1.0 km | JR山形駅より定期バス45分/山形蔵王ICより車で25分/山形駅からの無料送迎(予約サイト・EGBY12月~3月) |
| お食事処・お泊り処・お湯処 ろばた | ¥6,600 | 4.22／5 176 reviews | 1.1 km | JR 山形駅よりバスで約40分/山形蔵王I.C.より車で約30分 |
| 蔵王温泉 名湯舎 創 -MEITOYA SO- | ¥7,150 | 4.16／5 864 reviews | 1.1 km | 山形駅よりお車にて約40分 |
Prices are the lowest Rakuten Travel lists, not the price for your dates. The button above, or a property name, shows prices for the dates you pick.
The button above also checks the other 44 for the same 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
56 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: 0.8 km
Show the nearest places
Nearest first
- Zao Astraea Hotel 0.9 km
- Zao Spa Hotel Kiraku 1.0 km
- Lodge Christmas Rose Zao 1.0 km
- 和歌の宿 わかまつや 1.1 km
- Takamiya Rurikura Resort 1.1 km
- Yoshidaya Ryokan 1.2 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 Zao Onsen
- A Strong El Niño Is Forecast. Here Is What the Last Big One Did to Japan's Snow. NOAA expects a strong or very strong El Niño this winter. We measured every Japanese ski area across the last 12 winters: El Niño winters ran 88% of normal, and the strongest of the twelve left Japan at 63%. But Hakuba held 92% of its average that winter while Niseko fell to 57%.
- When Is There Snow at Japan's Hot Spring Towns? If you want to sit in an outdoor bath with snow on the ground, the question is when, not just where. We worked out snow depth at 14 Japanese hot spring towns over the last three winters from weather-model data: when it arrives, when it goes, and how many days it is actually deep.
- When Is the Best Time to Ski in Japan? January, measured over twelve winters at 397 ski areas. Last season was not typical — its January ran high and its March ran less than half of normal — so here is the average alongside it, month by month.
- Japan Is Sold on Powder. Measured, It Is the Easiest Big Ski Country to Learn In. Half of Japan's pisted kilometres are graded easy or novice — against 24% in the United States and 28% in Canada. And 255 of Japan's 397 ski areas have a natural hot-spring source within 5 km. Here are the numbers, the caveat about grading, and the resorts where a first-timer gets the most of both.
- Ski and Soak in Japan: Which Ski Areas Have a Hot Spring Source Next Door, and How Hot the Water Is We matched 7,203 analysed hot spring sources to Japan's ski areas. 255 of 397 have one within 5 km, 145 of them at 42 °C or hotter, and 54 have one within 1 km. These are the ski areas that pair top snow with hot water close by, and the ones where the water is strongly acidic.
- Will There Be Snow at Japan's Winter Festivals? Three Winters, Measured Japan's winter festivals are photographed in deep snow. We measured what was actually on the ground during each one across three winters — and checked the 580-year record of a frozen lake that has now failed eight years running.
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