Shiga Kogen Okushiga Kogen Ski Area is a ski area in Nagano, Japan, on slopes between roughly 1,364 and 1,996 m. Its mapped area is about 3.2 km across, with 26 marked runs and 6 lifts (about 12 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 333 cm of snowfall a season, 118th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2016/17 (434 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (214 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 104 cm. Snowfall days are cold, averaging −8.2 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 18th of 397 in Japan.
The nearest city of any size is Nagano, about 34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shiga Kogen Yakebitaiyama Ski Area | 2.0 km | 333 cm | 333 |
| Shiga Kogen Ichinose Yamanokami Ski Area | 3.3 km | 333 cm | 333 |
| Shiga Kogen Ichinose Family Ski Area | 3.8 km | 333 cm | 333 |
| Shiga Kogen Terakoya Ski Area | 4.5 km | 333 cm | 333 |
| Ryuoo Ski Park | 4.6 km | 405 cm | 167 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 66% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 69 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 333 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 214 cm; the biggest was 2016/17 with 434 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 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
88% 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
- Chairlift5
- Gondola1
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.
Shiga Kogen webcams & snow report — all 10 ski areas →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jigokudani Monkey Park地獄谷野猿公苑 | Park | 6.8 km |
| Shiga Highlands志賀高原 | Nature | 7.4 km |
| Shibu-tōge渋峠 | Nature | 11.7 km |
| Nozori Dam野反ダム | Landmark | 12 km |
| Mount Kusatsu-Shirane草津白根山 | Nature | 14 km |
| Kusatsu Onsen草津温泉 | Hot spring town | 17.7 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
10 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 奥志賀高原シャレークリスチャニア | ¥8,300 | 4.43 59 reviews | 1.2 km | ＪＲ長野駅東口より奥志賀高原行バスにて1時間30分終点下車、歩２分 |
| ホテルグランフェニックス奥志賀 | ¥11,225 | 4.71 76 reviews | 1.2 km | 長野電鉄湯田中駅→定期バス（１３往復）硯川・白根火山行き又は奥志賀高原行きにて志賀高原へ／上信越道信州中野ＩＣ～５０分 |
| 奥志賀高原ホテル | ¥11,267 | 4.06 279 reviews | 1.1 km | 信州中野ＩＣから車で４０分 長野駅より長野電鉄急行バスで１１０分 |
| スポーツハイム奥志賀 | — | — | 1.0 km | 湯田中駅より路線バス「奥志賀高原」行にて約５０分 「奥志賀ゴンドラ前」降車 |
| オードヴィー奥志賀 | — | — | 1.2 km | 上信越道 信州中野ICよりお車利用45分 |
| 奥志賀高原ブルーエ | — | — | 1.2 km | 長野駅より長電バス乗車→バス停「奥志賀高原スキー場」下車、徒歩５分 |
| 奥志賀高原ペンション 樹の子 | — | — | 1.2 km | 信州中野ＩＣより国道292号線を経て志賀高原方面へ、 蓮池分岐点を一の瀬・奥志賀方面へ。ICより38ｋｍ、約50分。 |
| プチホテル Ｅｐｉ | — | — | 1.3 km | 長野駅 長電バス「志賀高原急行バス」乗車、約１００分後「奥志賀高原バス停」下車より徒歩３分 |
| ペンション 白 | — | — | 1.3 km | 奥志賀高原のバス停より徒歩約３分 |
| 志賀高原プリンスホテル | — | 4.04 551 reviews | 2.9 km | ＪＲ長野駅より急行バス・志賀高原行で約１時間40分／上信越自動車道、信州中野ＩＣからＲ２９２経由で約３０ｋｍ。 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
4 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
- Okushiga Kogen Hotel Hotel 1.1 km
- Hotel Grand Phenix Okushiga Hotel 1.2 km
- Akiyamago Yusenkaku Hotel 9.7 km
- Kiriake Riverside House Hotel 9.7 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Nagano
- 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.
- 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.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52