Muroran-shi Ski Area is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, on slopes between roughly 382 and 476 m. Its mapped area is about 0.6 km across, with 1 marked run and 1 lift (about 0.5 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 135 cm of snowfall a season, 340th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2018/19 (90 cm), reached 67% of the average. March still brings 37 cm on average, close to January, its snowiest month. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 10.4 km away measured 375 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 141 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −2.9 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 311th of 397 in Japan.
Below is a link to its official live camera.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanlaiva | 14 km | 163 cm | 1503 |
| Orofure Ski Area | 15 km | 157 cm | 1578 |
| Rusutsu Resort | 34 km | 212 cm | 1041 |
| Nakayama-toge Ski Resort | 49 km | 264 cm | 655 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 95% 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 37 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 135 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2018/19 with 90 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 175 cm (1.9 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 2% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Chairlift1
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.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 登別 weather station — 10.4 km from this ski area, 232 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 375 cm |
| 2023/24 | 374 cm |
| 2024/25 | 431 cm |
| 2025/26 | 319 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 141 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
2 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 33.3 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 川股沢川股温泉 | 4.3 km | 33.3℃ lukewarm | 8.9 alkaline | — | — |
| 室蘭山口温泉 | 4.5 km | 26.2℃ lukewarm | 8.9 alkaline | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hakuchō Bridge白鳥大橋 | Landmark | 8.4 km |
| Muroran Station室蘭駅 | Landmark | 11.3 km |
| Cape Chikiuチキウ岬 | Nature | 12.9 km |
| Lake Kuttara倶多楽湖 | Nature | 17.4 km |
| Shōwa-shinzan昭和新山 | Mountain | 18 km |
| Mount Usu有珠山 | Mountain | 19.5 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
14 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 金政旅館 | ¥3,800 | 3.70 10 reviews | 6.4 km | 本輪西駅よりお車で約３分 |
| ホテルニューバジェット室蘭 | ¥4,000 | 4.02 1601 reviews | 7.4 km | ＪＲ東室蘭駅（西口）から徒歩６分 |
| 登別ログハウス／民泊 | ¥4,176 | — | 5.8 km | 幌別駅から車で約１７分 |
| 室蘭プラザホテル | ¥4,500 | 4.01 324 reviews | 8.1 km | ●ＪＲ室蘭本線東室蘭駅から徒歩３分。バスターミナルから徒歩５分。道央自動車道登別室蘭ＩＣから東室蘭方面へ１５分。 |
| ワークマンハウス室蘭 | ¥5,500 | — | 6.6 km | JR本輪西駅より車で約3分 |
| アパホテル〈室蘭〉 | ¥5,500 | 3.86 806 reviews | 7.3 km | JR室蘭本線「東室蘭駅」から徒歩7分。道央道・登別室蘭ICから車15分。無料駐車場57台有！ |
| 天然温泉 幸鐘の湯 ドーミーイン東室蘭（ドーミーイン・御宿野乃 ホテルズグループ） | ¥5,775 | 4.36 1678 reviews | 7.4 km | 東室蘭駅西口より直進 徒歩にて約５分 |
| ホテルテトラ東室蘭 | ¥6,000 | 3.68 76 reviews | 7.2 km | JR東室蘭駅徒歩9分 |
| 虎杖浜天然温泉「旅人の湯」ホテルルートイン東室蘭駅前 | ¥7,900 | 4.02 1625 reviews | 7.9 km | ＪＲ室蘭線 東室蘭駅より徒歩にて約２分！道央自動車道・登別室蘭ＩＣから車で約20分！ |
| 虎杖浜天然温泉 「旅人の湯」ホテルルートインＧｒａｎｄ室蘭 | ¥7,950 | 4.39 423 reviews | 7.4 km | ＪＲ東室蘭駅より徒歩にて約7分 |
| 室蘭エコナハウス | — | — | 5.8 km | 新千歳空港より鉄道で一時間、バスで2時間 |
| 宿泊処 こみち | — | — | 6.7 km | ＪＲ 本輪西駅から徒歩で１分／ＪＲ 東室蘭駅からお車で７〜８分（特急停車駅） |
Show the other 2
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ビジネスホテル ニューまるしん | — | — | 7.8 km | 東室蘭駅より徒歩にて３分 |
| 旅館 北海 | — | — | 8.0 km | 東室蘭駅東口より徒歩20分、車で5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: 4.9 km
Nearest first
- ルレーブ Motel 7.4 km
- ホテルエルアンドエル Motel 7.4 km
- とみや旅館 Guest house 8 km
- ビジネスホテル太陽 Hotel 8.3 km
- ホテル ダテ・エンペラー Motel 9.6 km
- セピア室蘭 Hotel 10.9 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