Hakuba Sanosaka is located in the southern region of Hakuba village, close to the border with Omachi city. It used to be the northern part of three interconnected ski resorts, but since the middle area (Sun Alpina Aokiko) closed in 2009, the connection with the still-operating third resort (
Kashimayari) is no longer available.
Hakuba Sanosaka was originally known as 'Sanosaka Kogen' and then until 2009 it was called 'Sun Alpina Hakuba Sanosaka'. It has had a recent period of uncertainty and for a while it wasn’t part of the ‘Hakuba Valley’ ticket. It was back into the fold since the 2018-2019 season and one of the 10 resorts included in 'Hakuba Valley'.
In autumn 2020 it was announced that Hakuba Sanosaka would not be opening during the 2020-2021 season, citing coronavirus related issues. However, in mid November the intention to open for the season was announced and Hakuba Sanosaka is open for 2020-2021.
Hakuba village is just over 40km to the west of Nagano city in the northern region of Nagano Prefecture. Hakuba was host to some of the major events of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics including alpine skiing (at Hakuba Happo-one), ski jump events and cross country events. The backdrop of the North Alps makes for a spectacular mountain setting. Along with the ski and snowboard resorts in neighbouring Otari village to the north and Omachi City to the south - collectively known as 'Hakuba Valley' - this is one of the major ski and snowboard resort regions of Japan.
This map shows the ski and snowboard resorts in the main Hakuba region. In recent years the Hakuba region has become one of the most popular winter sport regions of Japan for visitors from overseas.
Nagano Prefecture is located in the Chubu region of the main island of Honshu. Most of the Northern Alps, Central Alps and Southern Alps are located within Nagano (along with neighbouring prefectures). Nagano has the second highest number of ski and snowboard resorts in all of Japan and they are spread around the whole prefecture. Nagano city and many of the major ski resorts are located in the northern region.