小林守雄さん作品展～昔の暮らしを伝えるワラ細工品～ 雪国館通信Vol.3
今や見かける機会さえ少なくなってしまったワラ（藁）ですが、昔の暮らしでは大切な資源でした。身近にあるワラなどの材料を使って、さまざまな道具を自分で作り、自分で使っていました。暮らしの変化とともに消えゆく運命のワラ細工品を […]
Nakazato Snow Wood Ski Area is a ski area in Niigata, Japan, on slopes between roughly 481 and 712 m. Its mapped area is about 0.9 km across, with 2 marked runs and 2 lifts (about 1 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 712 cm of snowfall a season, 4th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2021/22 (921 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (328 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 249 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 5.7 km away measured 810 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 755 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −1.1 °C at mid-mountain, close to freezing, so the snow is often heavy, and its snow-quality score ranks 216th of 397 in Japan.
The nearest city of any size is Maebashi, about 60 km away. 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.
Temperature
14.5℃
Max wind
7.2km/h
Elevation (est.)
481–712m
Across
0.9km
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.
Seasonal snowfall
712 cm
per season
Worst of 12 winters
328 cm
A typical winter: 712 cm. The best: 921 cm.
World rank
6
of 3,069 worldwide
Rank in country
4
of 397 in Japan
Elevation rank
251
Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 561 m, 205 m below the national median.
Quality rank
216
of 397 in Japan
Temp when snowing
-1.1°C
Japanese median: -3.5°C
Rain days
27%
Japanese median: 16%
Days over 5 cm
44%
Japanese median: 15%
Wind when snowing
17 km/h
Dryness 0.22
Frequency 1.00
Freedom from rain 0.35
Calm when snowing 0.98
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuzawa Nakazato Ski Resort | 0.9 km | 712 cm | 6 |
| Yuzawa Park Ski Resort | 2.3 km | 712 cm | 6 |
| Kandatsu Kogen Ski Resort | 3.9 km | 618 cm | 36 |
| Iwappara | 4.5 km | 712 cm | 6 |
| NASPA Ski Garden | 4.9 km | 618 cm | 36 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 41% 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 102 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
194cmDec
249cmJan
168cmFeb
102cmMar
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 712 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 328 cm; the biggest was 2021/22 with 921 cm (2.8 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.
328
921
14/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/2323/2424/2525/26
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.
Marked runs
2
Run length
1km
Lifts
2
Vertical
197m
Top 687 m · base 490 m
Run map
EasyIntermediate Lift
The shape of the mountain
Longest run on the map0.5 km
Steepest pitch30°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs12.6°
Which way the slopes face
North 9%
East 0%
South 0%
West 91%
Only 9% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Easy 1
Intermediate 1
Lift types
- Chairlift2
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.
Roads nearby国道17号 ↗From the resort: 5.2 kmOperated by: 北陸地方整備局 長岡国道事務所Roads nearby国道17号 ↗From the resort: 15.4 kmOperated by: 関東地方整備局 高崎河川国道事務所
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 →
Official YouTube channel
More than we show here.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 湯沢 weather station — 5.7 km from this ski area, 256 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 810 cm |
| 2023/24 | 619 cm |
| 2024/25 | 1080 cm |
| 2025/26 | 732 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 755 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
4 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 55.7 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 松川松川 | 1.3 km | 25.8℃ lukewarm | — | — | — |
| 佐工不動産佐工不動産 | 2 km | 35.2℃ warm | 8.8 alkaline | alkaline simple | — |
| 岩原岩原 | 2.8 km | 55.7℃ hot | — | simple | — |
| 神立高原ゴールデンスパ | 3.9 km | 43.1℃ hot | 8 mildly alkaline | — | — |
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 Tanigawa谷川岳 | Mountain | 10.1 km |
| Kiyotsu Gorge清津峡 | Nature | 11.5 km |
| Tanigawadake Ropeway谷川岳ロープウェイ | Nature | 12.2 km |
| Doai Station土合駅 | Landmark | 12.9 km |
| Mount Makihata巻機山 | Mountain | 12.9 km |
| Yagisawa Dam矢木沢ダム | Nature | 18 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 ↗ Coordinates: 36.9041, 138.8535
Places to stay nearby
39 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| エンゼルグランディア越後中里（越後湯沢） | ¥4,070 | 4.30 4916 reviews | 0.4 km | 【車】関越自動車道越後湯沢ICより10分（5km）【新幹線】JR越後湯沢駅西口徒歩2分の案内所から無料送迎バスで約15分 |
| ゆとりろ越後湯沢 | ¥4,400 | 3.96 50 reviews | 2.2 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 | 2.8 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 ホテル 湯沢湯沢でんき屋 | ¥5,500 | 4.75 389 reviews | 3.0 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 |
| 湯沢パークホテル | ¥7,300 | 4.33 251 reviews | 2.5 km | 鉄道：上越新幹線越後湯沢駅東口よりタクシー又は送迎バスで約10分／車：関越自動車道湯沢ＩＣより約3ｋｍ・6分 |
| 湯沢 玉城屋 | ¥9,900 | 4.60 79 reviews | 0.8 km | 新幹線-越後湯沢駅より車８分 上越線-越後中里駅前 徒歩0分 車-湯沢ＩＣより７分 |
| ファミリーハウス しらゆき | ¥9,900 | 4.82 134 reviews | 0.8 km | JR上越線越後中里駅1分。関越自動車道湯沢IC。越後湯沢駅西口「エンゼル案内所」中里スノーリゾート行の無料シャトルバス。 |
| えびすや（えびすや旅館） | ¥9,900 | 4.43 57 reviews | 2.6 km | ＪＲ上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅より無料送迎（約７分）／関越道 湯沢ＩＣより約６分 |
| ペンション さんらいず | ¥10,000 | 4.55 47 reviews | 2.7 km | 上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅下車 送迎１０分／湯沢ＩＣより５ｋｍ 車で約１０分 |
| 上越ホテル | — | — | 0.4 km | 越後湯沢駅から送迎バスで１０分（要予約） |
| ペンション パセリの森 | — | — | 0.5 km | 関越道 湯沢ＩＣより１０分／上越新幹線越後湯沢駅より送迎１０分 |
| こまくさ＜新潟県＞ | — | — | 0.6 km | 越後中里駅より徒歩にて５分 |
Show the other 27
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 旅館・食堂 ふるさと | — | 4.75 94 reviews | 0.6 km | 湯沢IC~15分。越後中里駅ゲレンデ口徒歩3分。 |
| 民宿 けいせつ | — | — | 0.7 km | 越後湯沢駅より車で１５分／中里駅より車で２分 |
| 上越館 ＜新潟県＞ | — | — | 0.8 km | 越後中里駅から徒歩１０秒 |
| ホワイト・イン・スズヤ | — | 5.00 10 reviews | 0.9 km | JR上越線 越後中里駅から徒歩2分 |
| にしのや | — | — | 1.0 km | 上越線「越後中里駅」から徒歩5分＆上越新幹線 「越後湯沢駅」から車で15分 |
| ＨＯＴＥＬ ＧＯＯＤＤＡＹ ＹＵＺＡＷＡ | — | — | 1.0 km | 中里駅より徒歩約５分 |
| 高波ヒュッテ | — | 4.83 13 reviews | 1.0 km | 上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅より送迎も有ります。 |
| 丸喜屋旅館 | — | — | 1.1 km | 越後中里駅より徒歩５分、越後湯沢駅よりお車にて１０分 |
| 【越後湯沢のロフト付き客室】ヴィラ・パーサー | — | — | 1.3 km | 越後中里駅から徒歩約８分、湯沢インターから車で約８分、越後湯沢駅から車で約１０分 |
| なかすみ旅館 | — | 5.00 95 reviews | 1.3 km | 湯沢ICから車で８分、越後中里駅から徒歩で７分。 |
| 私の家 中屋 | — | — | 1.4 km | 湯沢インターから車で5分、越後湯沢駅からは車で8分程 新感線：上越新幹線越後湯沢駅にて下車。送迎あり。 |
| ペンション たまはうす | — | — | 1.4 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 |
| まるぜん旅館＜南魚沼郡湯沢町＞ | — | — | 1.5 km | 越後中里駅より徒歩２分／湯沢駅より１０分 |
| ヴィラ・グリーングラス | — | 5.00 8 reviews | 1.5 km | 中里駅からお車で３分／越後湯沢駅からお車で１０分 |
| ペンション “菰”コモ | — | — | 1.7 km | 東京より関越道で２時間半！湯沢インターより１０分！越後湯沢駅より車で１０分！GALA駅より無料シャトルバス有り（冬季間） |
| ウッディハウス ホスタ | — | — | 1.7 km | 越後湯沢駅からお車で１０分（送迎有・要予約） |
| 越後湯沢で最初のペンション ゲストハウス・バンヌッフ | — | — | 2.2 km | 湯沢Ｉ．Ｃから車で５分／上越新幹線『越後湯沢駅』から車で8分 |
| ペンション ＮＯＡＨ（ノア） | — | — | 2.3 km | 上越新幹線・上越線 越後湯沢駅／関越自動車道 湯沢ＩＣより車で７分 |
| 林屋旅館＜新潟県＞ | — | — | 2.5 km | 越後湯沢駅下車＊無料送迎有り、タクシーは約１０００円 |
| ファンタジェン イズミヤ | — | — | 2.5 km | 越後湯沢駅／関越道・湯沢ＩＣ～６分 |
| ロッヂ 雪ん子 | — | — | 2.5 km | 岩原スキー場前駅 歩いて 9分 |
| ペンション ラフランス | — | 4.81 131 reviews | 2.6 km | 上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅よりバスで5分／関越自動車道 湯沢ICより10分 |
| セーナ イン ふじや | — | 4.33 27 reviews | 2.8 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） |
| あらやしき館 | — | 4.63 71 reviews | 2.9 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 |
| 車屋旅館＜新潟県湯沢町＞ | — | — | 3.1 km | 関越高速 湯沢ＩＣよりお車にて５分。 |
| ロッヂ ミホッペ ハーペ | — | — | 3.1 km | ＪＲ越後湯沢駅よりお車で１５分／関越自動車道・湯沢ＩＣよりお車で１０分 |
| ロッヂ マウンテン | — | — | 3.2 km | 越後湯沢駅から路線バスで約１５分（送迎ご相談下さい） |
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 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.
Related resort · Snow & Mountain Resort News
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52