Zao Sarukura is a ski area in Yamagata, Japan, on slopes between roughly 655 and 813 m. Its mapped area is about 0.7 km across, with 7 marked runs and 2 lifts (about 1.7 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 253 cm of snowfall a season, 190th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2024/25 (352 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2015/16 (129 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 88 cm. Snowfall days average −3.4 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 161st 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zao Liza World | 3.0 km | 254 cm | 701 |
| Zao Onsen | 4.5 km | 258 cm | 673 |
| Miyagi Zao Sumikawasu Snow Park | 9.4 km | 258 cm | 673 |
| Miyagi Zao Eboshi Resort | 12 km | 254 cm | 701 |
| Miyagi Zao Shiroishi Ski Resort | 13 km | 190 cm | 1240 |
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 45 cm, about the same as the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 253 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 129 cm; the biggest was 2024/25 with 352 cm (2.7 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
Only 39% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
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.
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.
Zao webcams & snow report — all 9 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 64.6 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ニュー蔵王 | 0.4 km | 37℃ warm | 8.6 alkaline | alkaline simple | — |
| 蔵王上の川 | 5 km | 64.6℃ hot | 1.3 acidic | sulphur, iron, acidic | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zaō Ropeway蔵王ロープウェイ | Landmark | 3.9 km |
| Mount Zaō蔵王連峰 | Mountain | 5.9 km |
| Okama御釜 (蔵王連峰) | Nature | 6.4 km |
| Zaō Quasi-National Park蔵王国定公園 | Nature | 6.8 km |
| Kaminoyama Castle上山城 | Historic site | 9.5 km |
| Yamagata Station山形駅 | Landmark | 14.2 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
11 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ナリサワペンション | ¥4,500 | 4.44 9 reviews | 1.4 km | ＪＲ山形新幹線 「かみのやま温泉駅」よりシャトルバスで約３０分 |
| 蔵王ライザ ウッディロッジ | ¥5,700 | 4.36 139 reviews | 2.1 km | ＪＲ山形新幹線かみのやま温泉駅からシャトルバス４５分 |
| 蔵王エコー山荘 | ¥6,700 | 4.25 34 reviews | 0.3 km | かみのやま温泉駅から車で25分・蔵王スキー場10分・ライザスキー場8分・猿倉スキー場1分 |
| ペンション ノエル | ¥9,350 | 4.71 39 reviews | 1.4 km | 山形新幹線「かみのやま温泉駅」よりシャトルバス約30分、山形蔵王IC⇒R13号⇒蔵王エコーライン⇒ノエル |
| 野口ペンション | ¥9,600 | 5.00 17 reviews | 1.4 km | 山形新幹線かみのやま温泉より無料シャトルバス４０分/山形自動車道山形蔵王ＩＣより４０分/東北中央道山形上山ＩＣより30分 |
| ペンション ラビイハウス | ¥10,500 | 4.00 8 reviews | 1.1 km | 山形自動車道『山形蔵王IC』→R13→エコーライン→坊平高原／山形新幹線『かみのやま温泉駅』 |
| 蔵王坊平高原 石井ペンション | ¥11,000 | 4.67 20 reviews | 1.4 km | 山形新幹線かみのやま温泉駅～無料シャトルバス有（通年1日3便共同運行）／東北中央道山形上山ＩＣ～蔵王エコーラインで30分 |
| ＨＡＮＡＲＥ ＾ | ¥16,704 | — | 0.5 km | 蔵王駅から車で13分 |
| 原ペンション | — | — | 1.7 km | かみのやま温泉駅／山形自動車道 山形蔵王IC〜R１３経由で４０分 |
| ヒュッテハイジ | — | — | 2.2 km | かみのやま温泉駅より無料シャトルバスにて約３０分 |
| 蔵王坊平高原ペンションｔｏｏＣｏｔｔｏｎ | — | 4.67 124 reviews | 2.7 km | かみのやま温泉駅より蔵王ライザ行き無料シャトルバス 東北中央道かみのやま温泉IC、山形上山ICから蔵王エコーライン２５分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
28 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 Yamagata
- 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%.
- When Is There Snow at Japan's Hot Spring Towns? If you want to sit in an outdoor bath with snow on the ground, the question is when, not just where. We measured the snow depth at 14 Japanese hot spring towns across three winters — arrival, departure, and how many days it is actually deep.
- When Is the Best Time to Ski in Japan? January, measured over twelve winters at 397 ski areas. Last season was not typical — its January ran high and its March ran less than half of normal — so here is the average alongside it, month by month.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52