Sannokura is a ski area in Fukushima, Japan, on slopes between roughly 556 and 776 m. Its mapped area is about 1.1 km across, with 6 marked runs and 2 lifts (about 3 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 384 cm of snowfall a season, 82nd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2019/20 (289 cm), reached 75% of the average. January is usually the snowiest month, with about 131 cm. Snowfall days average −2.8 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 117th of 397 in Japan.
The nearest city of any size is Fukushima, about 53 km away.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nekoma Mountain | 20 km | 347 cm | 289 |
| Onogawa Onsen | 22 km | 314 cm | 430 |
| Urabandai Ski Resort | 22 km | 347 cm | 289 |
| Grandeco Snow Resort | 23 km | 379 cm | 206 |
| Tengendai Kogen | 24 km | 379 cm | 206 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 40% 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 53 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 384 cm, and 8 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2019/20 with 289 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 562 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
56% 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
- 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.
Bandai and Inawashiro webcams & snow report — all 8 ski areas →
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 63.4 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 熱塩新泉源 | 3 km | 63.4℃ hot | 6.4 neutral | — | — |
| 日中日中温泉 | 3.5 km | 34℃ warm | 6.6 neutral | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 熱塩温泉 | Hot spring town | 2.6 km |
| Atsushio Station熱塩駅 | Landmark | 2.6 km |
| Bandai-Asahi National Park磐梯朝日国立公園 | Nature | 14.3 km |
| Mount Iide飯豊山 | Mountain | 18.2 km |
| Lake Hibara桧原湖 | Nature | 18.5 km |
| Oguni-numa Pond雄国沼 | Nature | 18.8 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
2 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 創作料理が自慢の宿 会津 喜多方 熱塩温泉 山形屋 | ¥9,720 | 4.44 591 reviews | 2.7 km | 磐越西線・喜多方駅～車で15分／磐越道・会津若松ＩＣ～車で40分 |
| 翠清閣 笹屋本館 | — | — | 2.6 km | 喜多方駅よりお車にて１５分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
10 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Nearest: 3.4 km
Nearest first
- 広河原温泉 間欠泉 湯の華 Hotel 9.4 km
- 喜楽荘 Hotel 10.8 km
- 喜多方グリーンホテル Hotel 10.8 km
- あづま旅館 Hotel 10.9 km
- 笹屋旅館 Hotel 11.1 km
- 旅館俵屋 Hotel 11.3 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Fukushima
- Japan Is Sold on Powder. Measured, It Is the Easiest Big Ski Country to Learn In. Half of Japan's pisted kilometres are graded easy or novice — against 24% in the United States and 28% in Canada. And 255 of Japan's 397 ski areas have a natural hot-spring source within 5 km. Here are the numbers, the caveat about grading, and the resorts where a first-timer gets the most of both.
- 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