Nukabira Gensenkyo Ski Area is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, on slopes between roughly 557 and 844 m. Its mapped area is about 1.9 km across.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 174 cm of snowfall a season, 293rd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2015/16 (121 cm), reached 70% of the average. December brings as much snow as January here (42 and 40 cm on average). Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 1.2 km away measured 264 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 175 cm from the model. Snowfall days are cold, averaging −6.2 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 143rd 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sahoro | 37 km | 194 cm | 1201 |
| Shintokuyama | 41 km | 171 cm | 1407 |
| Daisetsuzan Sounkyo Kurodake Ski Area | 44 km | 396 cm | 178 |
| Asahidake | 45 km | 388 cm | 194 |
| Oketocho Minamigaoka | 49 km | 162 cm | 1517 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in March. March brings as much as January, or more. In amount, March brings 51 cm, about the same as the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 174 cm, and 8 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 121 cm; the biggest was 2014/15 with 238 cm (2.0 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 marked runs and lifts on the map, within 2.5 km of the centre of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Lift types
- Chairlift2
Source: OpenStreetMap (ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Difficulty uses the European grades, which do not map onto North American green / blue / black.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the ぬかびら源泉郷 weather station — 1.2 km from this ski area, 160 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 264 cm |
| 2023/24 | 247 cm |
| 2024/25 | 268 cm |
| 2025/26 | 276 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 175 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
25 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 59.8 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 糠平温泉湯元館 | 0.9 km | 59.6℃ hot | 7.1 neutral | — | 1973 |
| 糠平温泉糠平温泉ホテル | 0.9 km | 52℃ hot | 7.1 neutral | — | 1973 |
| 糠平温泉 | 0.9 km | 49.1℃ hot | 7 neutral | — | 1973 |
| 糠平温泉琴月源泉 | 0.9 km | 47℃ hot | 7.3 neutral | — | 1955 |
| 糠平温泉湯元館・滝の湯源泉 | 0.9 km | 59.8℃ hot | 7.4 neutral | — | 1955 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ぬかびら温泉 | Hot spring town | 1 km |
| ひがし大雪自然館 | Museum | 1.2 km |
| Nukabira Station糠平駅 | Landmark | 1.5 km |
| Nukabira Dam糠平ダム | Nature | 3.5 km |
| Taushubetsu Bridgeタウシュベツ川橋梁 | Landmark | 6.5 km |
| Lake Shikaribetsu然別湖 | Nature | 10.7 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
6 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 湖々路の郷 | ¥8,400 | 5.00 16 reviews | 1.1 km | とかち帯広空港から車で約1時間40分・帯広駅から十勝バス「ぬかびら源泉郷」行き（約1時間45分／1日4往復） |
| ペンション森のふくろう | ¥9,500 | 4.74 294 reviews | 0.9 km | 札幌駅から千歳石狩根室本線の特急で３時間／札幌より235ｋｍ |
| 糠平館観光ホテル | ¥9,900 | 3.58 374 reviews | 1.0 km | ＪＲ 帯広駅から路線バス（十勝バス）で約１時間４０分 |
| 糠平温泉ホテル | ¥12,100 | 4.19 151 reviews | 0.9 km | 帯広駅より路線バスで１時間半 |
| 山の旅籠 山湖荘 | — | — | 1.0 km | 帯広駅から路線バス（ぬかびら源泉郷行き）乗車し、約１時間４０分 |
| 東大雪ぬかびらユースホステル | — | — | 1.1 km | 帯広駅より十勝バスぬかびら源泉郷行で１００分。ぬかびら源泉郷営業所下車。徒歩3分。 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
11 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
- ぬかびら源泉郷 湯元館 Hotel 0.9 km
- 糠平温泉 中村屋 Hotel 1 km
- Mori no Fukuro Hotel 1 km
- Primary Stage Motel 1 km
- Sannkosou Hotel 1 km
- Nukabira Youth Hostel Hostel 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