Gosannen Ski Area is a ski area in Akita, Japan, on slopes between roughly 49 and 74 m. Its mapped area is about 0.3 km across, with 5 marked runs and 3 lifts (about 0.5 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 230 cm of snowfall a season, 223rd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2024/25 (405 cm), brought more than 3 times as much as the leanest, 2019/20 (123 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 84 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 4.6 km away measured 490 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 298 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −0.8 °C at mid-mountain, close to freezing, so the snow is often heavy, and its snow-quality score ranks 317th of 397 in Japan.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omagari Family Ski Area | 14 km | 202 cm | 1135 |
| Choei Yuda Ski Area | 21 km | 332 cm | 345 |
| Inakawa Ski Area Suberotta | 22 km | 229 cm | 885 |
| Tengamori Ski Area | 23 km | 377 cm | 211 |
| Jeunesse Kurikoma Ski Area | 28 km | 407 cm | 165 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 27% 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 23 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 230 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2019/20 with 123 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 405 cm (3.3 times as much).
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 7% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Rope tow3
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.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 横手 weather station — 4.6 km from this ski area, 2 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 490 cm |
| 2023/24 | 329 cm |
| 2024/25 | 615 cm |
| 2025/26 | 526 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 298 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
4 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 41 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 雁の湯 | 0.4 km | 41℃ warm | 8.2 mildly alkaline | — | — |
| 睦成追回 | 3.6 km | 36.8℃ warm | 8 mildly alkaline | sulphur | — |
| 睦成簡易保険保養センター | 4.2 km | 36℃ warm | 8.2 mildly alkaline | — | — |
| 塩湯彦 | 4.7 km | 40.8℃ warm | 7.6 mildly alkaline | sulphur | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yokote Castle横手城 | Historic site | 4.8 km |
| Yokote Park横手公園 | Park | 4.8 km |
| Akita Furusato-mura秋田ふるさと村 | Leisure | 7.5 km |
| Akita Museum of Modern Art秋田県立近代美術館 | Museum | 7.6 km |
| Former Ikeda Family Gardens旧池田氏庭園 | Park | 11.1 km |
| Hotta-no-saku払田柵跡 | Historic site | 12 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.
Official piste map ↗Places to stay nearby
16 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| クォードインｙｏｋｏｔｅ | ¥3,100 | 4.20 1391 reviews | 5.9 km | ■ＪＲ横手駅西口より徒歩約5分■秋田自動車道横手ICより車4分■秋田空港・花巻空港より車60分☆無料駐車場139台完備☆ |
| プラザイーストキャビン（横手プラザホテル） | ¥3,500 | 4.25 119 reviews | 5.8 km | JR横手駅目の前徒歩30秒 横手ICより5分 秋田空港・花巻空港より車60分 横手バスターミナル徒歩2分 |
| 横手プラザホテル | ¥3,600 | 4.15 2222 reviews | 5.8 km | JR横手駅東口目の前徒歩30秒 横手ICより5分 秋田空港・花巻空港より車60分 横手バスターミナル徒歩2分 |
| ホテルレディースプラザ横手 | ¥3,700 | 4.30 42 reviews | 5.8 km | JR横手駅西口目の前徒歩30秒 横手ICより5分 秋田空港・花巻空港より車60分 横手バスターミナル徒歩3分 |
| 横手セントラルホテル | ¥3,700 | 4.28 1886 reviews | 6.2 km | JR奥羽本線「横手駅」下車徒歩15分、タクシーで3分。 秋田自動車道横手ICより国道107号線経由で約8分 |
| Ｒｅｇｉｏｎｓ Ｈｏｓｔｅｌ | ¥4,100 | 4.23 27 reviews | 7.2 km | 横手駅西口よりお車で約５分、秋田自動車道横手ＩＣより約２分。横手駅からバス（羽後交通ふるさと村線）もございます。 |
| 尾張屋旅館 | ¥4,900 | 4.13 56 reviews | 5.7 km | 横手駅より徒歩１０分 |
| 美郷町宿泊交流館ワクアス | ¥5,800 | 4.16 100 reviews | 4.0 km | [車]秋田自動車道・大曲ICより約15分または横手ＩＣより約20分[電車]JR飯詰駅よりタクシー約5分 |
| ホテル ルートイン 横手インター | ¥5,875 | 4.10 562 reviews | 7.8 km | ＪＲ 奥羽本線 横手駅／秋田自動車道 横手インターチェンジ降りてすぐ、交通アクセスは抜群！！ |
| ホテルプラザアネックス横手 | ¥6,160 | 4.33 3439 reviews | 5.8 km | JR横手駅徒歩2分！ 横手ICより5分、秋田空港・花巻空港より車60分、横手バスターミナル徒歩3分 |
| 横手の街宿 かまだや | ¥6,300 | 3.78 10 reviews | 5.6 km | 横手駅から徒歩で５分 |
| ＨＯＴＥＬ ＮＯＳＴＡＬ ＹＯＫＯＴＥ | ¥7,010 | 4.41 328 reviews | 5.8 km | ◆JR横手駅徒歩約２分◆駐車場からホテルまで屋根付き◆秋田自動車道横手ICより車5分◆秋田空港・花巻空港より車６０分◆ |
Show the other 4
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 民泊よこてこよ／民泊 | ¥7,018 | — | 4.3 km | 横手駅より徒歩で4分 |
| 横手温泉 ホテルプラザ迎賓 | ¥14,300 | 4.55 705 reviews | 5.9 km | JR横手駅東口徒歩2分 秋田自動車道横手IC5分 秋田空港・花巻空港から車60分 横手バスターミナル徒歩3分 |
| ファミリーロッジ旅籠屋・秋田六郷店 | — | — | 5.9 km | ＪＲ奥羽本線「飯詰駅」「大曲駅」「横手駅」／秋田自動車道「横手ＩＣ」下車、国道13号線を大曲方面直進約15km |
| 阿部旅館＜秋田県＞ | — | — | 5.6 km | 奥羽本線 横手駅より徒歩６〜７分、車で３分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
24 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Nearest: 4 km
Nearest first
- ホテルテトラリゾート秋田横手温泉 Hotel 4.3 km
- PLAZA EAST CABIN Hostel 5.8 km
- HOTEL NOSTAL YOKOTE Hotel 5.8 km
- Yokote Plaza Hotel Hotel 5.8 km
- Family Lodge Hatagoya Akita Rokugo Hotel 6.3 km
- Regions Hostel Hotel 7.2 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Akita
- 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.
- Japan's Snow Huts Are Water Shrines. The Snowiest Towns Do Not Have Them. The kamakura is not a shelter from snow. It is a well-side shrine to a water god, roughly 450 years old, and Yokote built its huts on 6 cm of snow in 2024. We measured the snow at five towns that hold one.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52