Owani Onsen Ski Resort International Area is a ski area in Aomori, Japan, on slopes between roughly 97 and 513 m. Its mapped area is about 1.8 km across, with 14 marked runs and 3 lifts (about 9.8 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 233 cm of snowfall a season, 217th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2024/25 (312 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2020/21 (153 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 72 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 4.7 km away measured 477 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 267 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −3.0 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 207th of 397 in Japan.
Below are links to 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iwakisan Hyakuzawa Ski Resort | 25 km | 324 cm | 387 |
| Hakkoda Kokusai Ski Area | 30 km | 371 cm | 221 |
| Fujisato Choei Ski Area | 31 km | 200 cm | 1149 |
| Aomori Spring Resort | 31 km | 324 cm | 387 |
| Moya Hills | 32 km | 339 cm | 309 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 51% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 37 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 233 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2020/21 with 153 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 312 cm (2.0 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
55% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.
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
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 碇ケ関 weather station — 4.7 km from this ski area, 170 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 477 cm |
| 2023/24 | 364 cm |
| 2024/25 | 634 cm |
| 2025/26 | 432 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 267 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
8 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 78 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 上牡丹森湯とぴあ | 1.1 km | 30.3℃ lukewarm | 7.4 neutral | simple | — |
| 萢頭萢頭 | 1.1 km | 64℃ hot | 8.2 mildly alkaline | simple | — |
| 大鰐青柳温泉3号泉 | 2.2 km | 78℃ hot | 6.8 neutral | — | — |
| 苦木苦木観音橋の湯 | 2.9 km | 43℃ hot | 8 mildly alkaline | simple | — |
| 島田島田 | 3.5 km | 13.6℃ cold | 7.4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Daien-ji Temple大円寺 (青森県大鰐町) | Temple | 2.2 km |
| Owani Onsen大鰐温泉 | Hot spring town | 2.3 km |
| Japan National Route 339国道339号 | Landmark | 12 km |
| Seibi-en盛美園 | Park | 12.8 km |
| Nagabashiri Fuketsu長走風穴 | Nature | 13.6 km |
| Hirosaki Castle弘前城 | Historic site | 14.9 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
8 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 昭和温泉旅館すみれ | ¥3,850 | 3.74 39 reviews | 2.1 km | ＪＲ 大鰐温泉駅より徒歩約１１分 |
| 大鰐温泉 民宿 河鹿荘 | ¥5,000 | 4.64 328 reviews | 2.0 km | ＪＲ大鰐温泉駅より徒歩５分／高速弘前・大鰐より車で１０分 |
| 大鰐温泉 昇泉閣 紅葉館 | ¥7,000 | 4.00 6 reviews | 2.1 km | ＪＲ 大鰐温泉駅より徒歩７分／東北自動車道 大鰐・弘前ＩＣより車で１５分 |
| 大鰐温泉 登録有形文化財の宿 ヤマニ仙遊館 | ¥8,000 | 4.65 254 reviews | 2.2 km | JR大鰐温泉駅より徒歩12分(TAXIで3分）、高速弘前大鰐インターより車で15分 |
| 大鰐温泉郷 青森ワイナリーホテル | ¥9,900 | 4.20 497 reviews | 0.8 km | JR大鰐温泉駅～ホテル間の無料送迎バス有【2日前までの予約制】 9:00～18:45の間で運行。公式HPに時刻表有。 |
| 大鰐温泉 不二やホテル | ¥10,450 | 4.50 901 reviews | 2.2 km | 東北自動車道 大鰐・弘前ＩＣより約10分。 JR奥羽本線大鰐温泉駅下車 徒歩１５分 |
| 大鰐温泉 料理旅館 福士館 | — | — | 2.0 km | 大鰐温泉駅より徒歩５〜１０分 |
| 温泉民宿 赤湯 | — | 4.63 79 reviews | 2.1 km | 大鰐温泉駅より徒歩にて７分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
2 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Nearest: 1.1 km
Nearest first
- Hoshino Resorts KAI Tsugaru Hotel 1.1 km
- 合宿所 Guest house 11.7 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Aomori
- Deep Snow, 20 km from a Japanese City — and Nobody Writes About It Togakushi gets 553 cm a season and sits 12 km from Nagano. Not one of these twelve ski areas has an English Wikipedia page. Here is what is there.
- 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