Shintotsukawacho Sotchidake is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, on slopes between roughly 115 and 221 m. Its mapped area is about 0.5 km across.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 205 cm of snowfall a season, 257th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. Its winters are fairly steady; even the leanest, 2019/20 (146 cm), reached 71% of the average. December brings as much snow as January here (62 and 59 cm on average). Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 11.9 km away measured 506 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 220 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −5.1 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 159th of 397 in Japan.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kamoidake Kokusai | 17 km | 201 cm | 1140 |
| Bibai Kokusetsu Ski Area | 27 km | 232 cm | 853 |
| Ashimoi Kanko Takaho Ski Area | 34 km | 225 cm | 913 |
| Katsurazawa Kokusetsu Ski Area | 35 km | 232 cm | 853 |
| Mashike Choei Shokanbetsudake Ski Area | 37 km | 416 cm | 151 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in December. March brings 59% of January’s snowfall. That is in line with the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 35 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 205 cm, and 4 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2019/20 with 146 cm; the biggest was 2021/22 with 257 cm (1.8 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 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
- Chairlift1
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.
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.
Asahikawa webcams & snow report — all 10 ski areas →
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 滝川 weather station — 11.9 km from this ski area, 118 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 506 cm |
| 2023/24 | 498 cm |
| 2024/25 | 535 cm |
| 2025/26 | 485 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 220 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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ふるさと公園 (新十津川町) | Park | 4 km |
| Takikawa Skypark滝川市航空科学センター | Museum | 7.9 km |
| Takikawa Local History Museum滝川市郷土館 | Museum | 9.6 km |
| 北海道子どもの国 | Park | 11 km |
| Hokkaido Forest北海道立道民の森 | Leisure | 14.3 km |
| Kami-Sunagawa Station上砂川駅 | Landmark | 16.8 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
4 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ピンネ荘 | ¥4,000 | 4.50 26 reviews | 3.6 km | 滝川駅よりお車にて１５分 |
| サンヒルズ・サライ | ¥6,400 | 4.33 362 reviews | 3.7 km | 千歳から車で2時間、札幌から1時間45分、富良野・旭川から1時間10分、近隣の滝川・砂川・雨竜・浦臼まで15～20分。 |
| コテ－ジ ヴィラトップ | ¥6,500 | 4.43 34 reviews | 3.7 km | 千歳から車で2時間、札幌から1時間45分、富良野・旭川から1時間10分、滝川・砂川・浦臼・雨竜から15～20分 |
| 新十津川温泉 グリーンパークしんとつかわ | ¥8,200 | 4.06 93 reviews | 3.8 km | ＪＲ滝川駅→中央バス新十津川町役場前→町営バス10分程で到着 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
3 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 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