Nakayama-toge Ski Resort is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, at about 803 m.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 264 cm of snowfall a season, 172nd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2017/18 (383 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (155 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 76 cm. Snowfall days are cold, averaging −7.7 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 56th 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 of the ski area’s centre point, taken from a digital elevation model. It is not the base-to-summit range.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fu's snow area | 19 km | 207 cm | 1081 |
| Rusutsu Resort | 21 km | 212 cm | 1041 |
| Sapporo Bankei Ski Area | 25 km | 194 cm | 1201 |
| Sapporo Kokusai Skiing Resort | 25 km | 331 cm | 351 |
| Kiroro Resort | 26 km | 331 cm | 351 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 79% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 60 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 264 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 155 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 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.
Rusutsu and Toya webcams & snow report — all 4 ski areas →
Map
Where it sits relative to nearby resorts. For a piste map, see the official site.
Official piste map ↗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