Kandatsu Kogen Ski Resort is a ski area in Niigata, Japan, on slopes between roughly 507 and 1,062 m. Its mapped area is about 2.5 km across, with 19 marked runs and 6 lifts (about 11 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 618 cm of snowfall a season, 25th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2016/17 (774 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (328 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 216 cm. Snowfall days average −2.6 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 139th of 397 in Japan.
The nearest city of any size is Maebashi, about 62 km away. Below are links to 4 official live cameras.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NASPA Ski Garden | 2.4 km | 618 cm | 36 |
| Ippon Sugi Ski Resort | 3.6 km | 695 cm | 12 |
| Yuzawa Kogen Ski Resort | 3.6 km | 618 cm | 36 |
| Nakazato Snow Wood Ski Area | 3.9 km | 712 cm | 6 |
| Yuzawa Nakazato Ski Resort | 4.1 km | 712 cm | 6 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 39% 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. For skiing, though, the amount matters more than the share: March brings 85 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 618 cm, and 5 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 328 cm; the biggest was 2016/17 with 774 cm (2.4 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
85% 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
Lift types
- Chairlift6
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.
Live Cameras
Road conditions decide whether you can get there at all. Check before you leave.
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
Echigo-Yuzawa webcams & snow report — all 18 ski areas →
Hot springs nearby, as analysed
7 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 61.5 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 神立高原ゴールデンスパ | 0.3 km | 43.1℃ hot | 8 mildly alkaline | — | — |
| 松川松川 | 2.6 km | 25.8℃ lukewarm | — | — | — |
| 佐工不動産佐工不動産 | 2.9 km | 35.2℃ warm | 8.8 alkaline | alkaline simple | — |
| 三俣せきれいの湯 | 3.1 km | 32.8℃ lukewarm | 8.9 alkaline | alkaline simple | — |
| 岩原岩原 | 3.8 km | 55.7℃ hot | — | simple | — |
| 湯沢第3配湯所 混湯 | 3.9 km | 61.5℃ hot | 8.3 mildly 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 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yuzawa Kōgen Ropeway湯沢高原ロープウェイ | Nature | 4.1 km |
| Kiyotsu Gorge清津峡 | Nature | 8.8 km |
| Mount Naeba苗場山 | Mountain | 12.4 km |
| Mount Tanigawa谷川岳 | Mountain | 13 km |
| Tanigawadake Ropeway谷川岳ロープウェイ | Nature | 15.4 km |
| Doai Station土合駅 | Landmark | 16.1 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.
Map
Where it sits relative to nearby resorts. For a piste map, see the official site.
Official piste map ↗Places to stay nearby
21 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 神楽ハウス | ¥3,500 | 5.00 26 reviews | 3.0 km | 越後湯沢駅よりお車 |
| ゆとりろ越後湯沢 | ¥4,400 | 3.96 50 reviews | 3.6 km | JR上越新幹線・上越線・信越本線「越後湯沢」駅より車で約10分／越後湯沢駅からの無料送迎あり※要予約 |
| 越後湯沢温泉 温泉民宿 浦子の湯 高野屋 | ¥4,500 | 4.43 221 reviews | 3.7 km | 上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅下車 タクシー８分、関越自動車道 湯沢IC→２km ５分 |
| 越後湯沢温泉ガーデンタワーホテル ＹＲＡＸリゾート | ¥5,300 | 4.31 64 reviews | 2.8 km | JR越後湯沢駅より無料送迎バスにて約5分。関越自動車道湯沢ICより車で約5分。ナビご利用の方は住所設定をお薦めします。 |
| 越後湯沢温泉 ホテル 湯沢湯沢でんき屋 | ¥5,500 | 4.75 389 reviews | 3.8 km | 湯沢Ｉ．Ｃから車で約５分 越後湯沢駅より無料送迎あり(8:30～18:00まで）到着後要電話 |
| 越後湯沢温泉 ＮＡＳＰＡニューオータニ | ¥6,800 | 4.45 2085 reviews | 2.7 km | ＪＲ上越新幹線越後湯沢駅から車で3分（送迎バスあり／定時運行）、関越自動車道湯沢Ｉ．Ｃより５分 |
| ペンション レ・シャモア | ¥13,400 | 4.78 77 reviews | 3.2 km | 越後湯沢駅よりバスで約２０分・タクシー約１０分／関越自動車道 湯沢ＩＣより約１０分 |
| 有馬屋 ＾ | ¥25,520 | — | 2.8 km | 越後湯沢駅から車で約１０分 |
| ペンション たまはうす | — | — | 2.5 km | 越後湯沢駅より車で１０分 湯沢インターより車で７分（近道あります）越後湯沢駅よりタクシー利用時￥3000程度 |
| ロッジ チャーリーブラウン | — | 1.00 11 reviews | 2.9 km | ◆越後湯沢駅より車で１５分◆ 関越道を新潟方面湯沢ICみつまたスキー場方面へ 街道の湯 道の駅を過ぎたら左折突当り右折 |
| ロッジ やしろ | — | 3.75 18 reviews | 2.9 km | 越後湯沢駅より車で15分 湯沢ICから約8km |
| ロッヂ ふくだや | — | 4.50 36 reviews | 3.0 km | 関越自動車道湯沢ＩＣより１０分。越後湯沢駅在来バス１０分。越後湯沢駅より在来バス２０分。 |
Show the other 9
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ｋ・Ｌｏｄｇｅ | — | 5.00 14 reviews | 3.0 km | 越後湯沢駅より、車で約１５分 |
| ロッヂ エルブロンネ | — | 4.50 36 reviews | 3.1 km | 上越線 越後湯沢駅 路線バス三俣中央下車 ／ 関越道湯沢ＩＣよりＲ１７を７ｋｍ 約１０分 |
| かぐらみつまたコテージ | — | 4.29 28 reviews | 3.1 km | 越後湯沢駅よりバスにて15分、「みつまた中央」下車で徒歩1分。 |
| みつまたロッヂ | — | 4.07 28 reviews | 3.2 km | 上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅より苗場方面直面バスにて約２０分（みつまたスキー場前バス停下車、目の前です。) |
| ペンションＺＩＯＮ ザイオン〜理想の郷 | — | — | 3.2 km | 越後湯沢駅から車で１５分 |
| 林屋旅館＜新潟県＞ | — | — | 3.8 km | 越後湯沢駅下車＊無料送迎有り、タクシーは約１０００円 |
| 車屋旅館＜新潟県湯沢町＞ | — | — | 4.0 km | 関越高速 湯沢ＩＣよりお車にて５分。 |
| あらやしき館 | — | 4.63 71 reviews | 4.1 km | 上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅より車で10分／関越自動車道 湯沢ＩＣより車で7分 |
| セーナ イン ふじや | — | 4.33 27 reviews | 4.1 km | 関越道 湯沢ＩＣより２km ５分、上越新幹線越後湯沢駅下車、タクシー１０分、定期バス２０分（添名下車 徒歩２分） |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
More places to look
Guides covering Niigata
- Which Ski Resort Gets the Most Snow in the World? We measured snowfall at all 3,069 ski areas on earth the same way. The top two both shut in winter because they get too much snow: a Norwegian glacier at 783 cm that opens in May, and Okutadami Maruyama in Niigata at 765 cm. 46 of the top 100 are Japanese.
- How Japan's Early-Bird Lift Tickets Work: At Hakuba Happo-One, Eight of the Nine Need a Japanese ID Card Hakuba Happo-One opened early-bird sales at 10:00 on 1 October. A day costs ¥6,400 against ¥9,800 at the window, 35% off. But every ticket on the list except one needs a My Number Card and a Japanese phone app. A visitor from abroad can buy exactly one of them, at 15% off.
- Japan Lift Ticket Prices for 2026/27: What a Day Costs at Twelve Big Resorts, and the Weeks It Costs Half We checked the 2026/27 adult day ticket on each resort's own site. At the window it runs from ¥7,000 at Akakura Kanko to ¥16,700 at Rusutsu. Buying online saves up to ¥3,500, and the first and last weeks of the season cost up to half. For those cheap spring weeks, we add which way each resort's slopes face.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52