Minowa Ski Resort is a ski area in Fukushima, Japan, on slopes between roughly 1,022 and 1,489 m. Its mapped area is about 2.4 km across, with 13 marked runs and 3 lifts (about 7.2 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 296 cm of snowfall a season, 152nd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2024/25 (383 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (151 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 96 cm. Snowfall days are cold, averaging −6.0 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 50th of 397 in Japan.
Below are links to 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yokomuki Onsen Ski Area | 1.0 km | 296 cm | 496 |
| Numajiri Ski | 3.7 km | 283 cm | 554 |
| Adatara Kogen Ski Resort | 6.0 km | 283 cm | 554 |
| Nihonmatsu Shiozawa | 6.3 km | 170 cm | 1416 |
| Grandeco Snow Resort | 13 km | 379 cm | 206 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 61% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 59 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 296 cm, and 5 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 151 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 383 cm (2.5 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 10% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Chairlift3
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
This ski area does not put a camera on its own slopes. The nearest live view is the road below.
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.
Adatara webcams & snow report — all 5 ski areas →
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 74.8 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 横向ホテルマウント磐梯 | 0.8 km | 44.9℃ hot | 6.4 neutral | simple | — |
| 鷲倉鷲倉 | 1.9 km | 45.2℃ hot | 2.6 acidic | simple | — |
| 野地野地温泉ホテル | 2.1 km | 51.9℃ hot | 5.5 mildly acidic | simple | — |
| 赤湯赤湯好山荘 | 2.3 km | 55.4℃ hot | 6.3 neutral | simple | — |
| 幕川水戸屋 | 4.1 km | 74.8℃ hot | 6.6 neutral | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Adatara安達太良山 | Mountain | 2.8 km |
| Tsuchiyu Onsen土湯温泉 | Hot spring town | 6.9 km |
| Mount Azuma-kofuji吾妻小富士 | Mountain | 8.8 km |
| Nihonmatsu Castle二本松城 | Historic site | 15.8 km |
| Mount Bandai磐梯山 | Mountain | 17.5 km |
| Lake Hibara桧原湖 | Nature | 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
2 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 横向温泉 森の旅亭 マウント磐梯 | ¥9,900 | 4.24 176 reviews | 0.8 km | ＪＲ猪苗代駅よりバスで２０分 猪苗代ＩＣより車で２５分 沼尻駅前下車（プランにより送迎有り）※要予約※ |
| 野地温泉ホテル | ¥15,400 | 4.46 1270 reviews | 2.1 km | 福島駅よりお車にて約５０分/東北自動車道福島ＩＣより２０ｋｍ |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
1 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Fukushima
- 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.
- Tengendai Kogen: Some of Japan's Best Snow Quality, and No Live Camera Snow falls at −7.8 °C, rain arrives on 12% of winter days, and the top station is at 1,860 m. Eight places to stay, and no live camera of its own.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52