Choei Yuda Ski Area is a ski area in Iwate, Japan, on slopes between roughly 255 and 455 m. Its mapped area is about 0.8 km across, with 1 marked run and 1 lift (about 0.8 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 332 cm of snowfall a season, 123rd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2017/18 (473 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (171 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 117 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 3.4 km away measured 676 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 374 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −2.1 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 232nd of 397 in Japan.
The nearest city of any size is Morioka, about 52 km away.
Snow depth and the seven-day outlook appear here once snow starts to fall. Until then, the long-run record comes first.
Elevation range is estimated by sampling points across the ski area.
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.
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 deliberately excludes how much snow falls — it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind. Snowing a lot and snowing well are different things.
Compared with what is nearby
Within 50 km straight line. Measured the same way, so the ranks compare directly. Ski areas a few kilometres apart share a weather grid cell and can return the same figure.
| Ski area | Distance | Seasonal snowfall | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geto Kogen | 15 km | 355 cm | 275 |
| Jeunesse Kurikoma Ski Area | 21 km | 407 cm | 165 |
| Gosannen Ski Area | 21 km | 230 cm | 877 |
| Tengamori Ski Area | 25 km | 377 cm | 211 |
| Inakawa Ski Area Suberotta | 29 km | 229 cm | 885 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 44% 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 51 cm, about the same as the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 332 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 171 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 473 cm (2.8 times as much). For 63% of the 397 ski areas in Japan, the leanest winter was the same 2015/16: bad winters tend to hit a whole region at once.
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
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.
Run map
The shape of the mountain
Which way the slopes face
Only 0% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Chairlift1
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.
Geto and Kitakami webcams & snow report — all 2 ski areas →
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 湯田 weather station — 3.4 km from this ski area, 105 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 676 cm |
| 2023/24 | 490 cm |
| 2024/25 | 818 cm |
| 2025/26 | 719 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 374 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
6 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 90.4 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 湯田薬師 | 1.2 km | 59.8℃ hot | 7.6 mildly alkaline | — | — |
| 湯本3号泉 | 1.3 km | 88℃ hot | 8.3 mildly alkaline | — | — |
| 湯本二度逢1号井 | 1.3 km | 85℃ hot | 7.6 mildly alkaline | — | — |
| 槻沢1号泉 | 2.5 km | 90.4℃ hot | 7.4 neutral | — | — |
| 川尻駅前の湯 | 3 km | 64.8℃ hot | 7.6 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
Places within 20 km 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.
| Place | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Hottoyuda Stationほっとゆだ駅 | Landmark | 3 km |
| 湯田温泉峡 | Hot spring town | 5.1 km |
| Yuda Dam湯田ダム | Nature | 9.4 km |
| Geto Onsen夏油温泉 | Hot spring town | 16.5 km |
| Geto Onsen no Sekkaika夏油温泉の石灰華 | Hot spring town | 16.6 km |
| Yokote Castle横手城 | Historic site | 18.9 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.
Map
Where it sits relative to nearby resorts. For a piste map, see the official site.
Places to stay nearby
3 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 岩手湯本温泉 かたくりの宿 旅館 一休館 | ¥7,150 | 4.00 10 reviews | 1.4 km | ほっとゆだ駅よりお車にて７分 |
| 湯田温泉郷 旅館 一城 | ¥8,400 | 4.60 14 reviews | 1.4 km | ほっとゆだ駅よりバスにて約10分 / 湯田ICより湯本方面へ車で10分 |
| 湯田温泉峡 岩手湯本温泉 ホテル対滝閣 | — | — | 1.5 km | 車／秋田道湯田ICより湯本方面へ約7分 鉄道／JR北上線ほっとゆだ駅より岩手県交通バスにて湯本温泉バス停下車徒歩約3分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
17 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Nearest: 1.4 km
Nearest first
- Taishokan Hotel 1.4 km
- Ikkyukan Hotel 1.4 km
- Ryokan Ichijo Hotel 1.4 km
- 対滝閣 Hotel 1.5 km
- Oonoya Ryokan Hotel 2.6 km
- 湯川温泉「四季彩の宿・ふる里」 Guest house 5.9 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Iwate
- A Historic El Niño Is Forecast. Here Is What the Last Big One Did to Japan's Snow. NOAA gives a very strong El Niño better than a 90% chance 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 Japan's Ski Resorts Open for 2026/27, and Whether There Will Be Snow When They Do Japan's 2026/27 season opens on 20 November at Sapporo Kokusai, 21 November at Sapporo Teine and 28 November at Niseko, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Furano. Dates checked on each resort's own site, set beside what December actually delivers: in Hokkaido about as much snow as January, in Nagano and Niigata about four-fifths.
- Where in Japan Do You Get the Most Powder Days? Season snowfall totals do not tell you how often it snows. We counted the days that deliver 5 cm or more at all 397 Japanese ski areas. Hokkaido's median is 12 days a winter and Honshu's is 21 — and Honshu rains about three times as often.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52