Katsurazawa Kokusetsu Ski Area is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, on slopes between roughly 99 and 323 m. Its mapped area is about 1.0 km across, with 4 marked runs and 1 lift (about 2.5 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 232 cm of snowfall a season, 219th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2019/20 (159 cm), reached 69% of the average. December brings as much snow as January here (82 and 61 cm on average). Snowfall days average −4.6 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 138th 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bibai Kokusetsu Ski Area | 8.3 km | 232 cm | 853 |
| Haginoyama Shimin Ski Area | 17 km | 164 cm | 1485 |
| Hokkaido Greenland White Park | 18 km | 164 cm | 1485 |
| Mount Racey | 23 km | 193 cm | 1217 |
| Kamoidake Kokusai | 30 km | 201 cm | 1140 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in December. March brings 62% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). For skiing, though, the amount matters more than the share: March brings 38 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 232 cm, and 5 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2019/20 with 159 cm; the biggest was 2020/21 with 278 cm (1.7 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
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
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.
Furano and Tokachi webcams & snow report — all 6 ski areas →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mikasa City Museum三笠市立博物館 | Museum | 1.9 km |
| Katsurazawa Dam桂沢ダム | Nature | 2.1 km |
| Mikasa Railway Memorial Museum三笠鉄道記念館 | Museum | 6.5 km |
| Kan Yasuda Sculpture Museum Arte Piazza Bibai安田侃彫刻美術館 アルテピアッツァ美唄 | Museum | 10.8 km |
| Sandan Falls三段滝 (北海道) | Nature | 17.9 km |
| Iwamizawa Parkいわみざわ公園 | Park | 18.3 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
1 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 湯の元温泉旅館 | ¥2,500 | 4.25 21 reviews | 0.9 km | 岩見沢駅より車で道道１１６号線経由（約35分）◆札幌より車で道央道三笠IC経由、道道岩見沢三笠線を桂沢湖方面（約80分） |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
2 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Nearest: 0.9 km
Nearest first
- 湯の元温泉旅館 Guest house 0.9 km
- Shinsenkaku Hotel 1.1 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Hokkaido
- 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%.
- Which Famous Ski Resorts Actually Get the Most Snow? 24 Names, Measured Niseko is 526th in the world for snowfall. Zermatt is 554th, Jackson Hole 924th, Aspen 1,201st. Measured identically across 3,069 ski areas, the names everyone books and the places it actually snows turn out to be two different lists.
- Australia Just Had Its Worst Season in Twenty Years. Here Is What Japan's 12-Winter Record Says About Booking It Instead. Snow depth at Spencers Creek peaked at 94.5 cm, the third lowest since 1954, and resorts closed in August. Our own measure — snowfall, not depth — puts Australia at 50% of its 12-year average. The gap between those two numbers is the story: it was the warmth, not only the lack of snow. New Zealand, meanwhile, finished at 108% of normal.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52