Yabuhara Kogen is a ski area located in Kiso Village in the western region of Nagano Prefecture.
The slopes of this ski area are on the northeast of Okumine, not far from the village's central area.
Yabuhara Kogen has one quad lift (736m) and five pair lifts (389m, 800m, 600m, 616m and 383m), and a longest course of 3,600m from top to base.
From the top are 360-degree views of surrounding mountains, including Ontake, Tategamine, the Northern Alps and the Southern Alps.
Yabuhara Kogen has a long history, now dating back 96 years.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1689
Vertical (m)
589
Bottom/base (m)
1100
Beginner runs (%)
35
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
25
Longest course (m)
3600
Steepest slope (°)
34
Number of courses
13
Ski lifts
6
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
1
Triple lift (3-person)
0
Pair lift (2-person)
5
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
0
Information
Normal season dates
Yabuhara Kogen usually plans to be open from mid-December until late March. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Yabuhara Kogen is normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm. Lifts close at 4:00pm until 31st December 2025.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing at this ski area.
Families & children
The Maruyama Family course at the base has a special sledging area. A lift ticket just for that area and lift is available.
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at Yabuhara Kogen.
Rental
Ski and snowboard equipment & wear rental is available at the base area.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
Adult: 5,400 yen
Child: 1,000 yen
Senior: 4,600 yen
Maruyama 1 day
Adult: 2,500 yen
4 hours
Adult: 4,400 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 45,000 yen
Senior: 40,000 yen
The Maruyama ticket above is for the Maruyama lift.
Tickets for people 50 years and over are also available (1 day is 5,000 yen).
Cheaper lift tickets are available from 9th March 2026 until the end of the season.
Historical snow depth data
The following ski season and official snow depth data have been independently compiled by SnowJapan for publication on this website. Where available, the data is updated annually after each ski season.
First and last dates of recent seasons
2025-2026 season: 20th December - 29th March (100 days)
2024-2025 season: 21st December - 30th March (100 days)
2023-2024 season: 23rd December - 31st March (100 days)
2022-2023 season: 17th December - 26th March (100 days)
2021-2022 season: 18th December - 27th March (100 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 150cm on 16th February and 18th-25th February
2024-2025 season: 170cm on 11th February and 13th February - 3rd March
2023-2024 season: 130cm on 6th February
2022-2023 season: 150cm on 10th-20th and 22nd, 24th, 26th February
2021-2022 season: 190cm on 18th, 21st-23rd and 25th-27th February
2020-2021 season: 150cm on 20th February until 2nd March
2019-2020 season: 130cm on 11th March
2018-2019 season: 120cm on 12th-28th February
2017-2018 season: 130cm on 12th February - 5th March
2016-2017 season: 110cm on 11th February - 26th March
2015-2016 season: 100cm on 12th-13th February
2014-2015 season: 170cm on 18th-21st February, 23rd February, 8th, 11th-23rd and 25th-29th March
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
Introduction to the region
Nagano Prefecture is located in the Chubu region of the main island of Honshu. It is one of only eight landlocked prefectures in Japan, bordered by Niigata, Gunma, Saitama, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, and Toyama.
Nagano Prefecture is sometimes referred to as 'the roof of Japan' because of the steep, rugged terrain of the many 2,000-3,000m mountains that comprise the Japan Alps. The Northern Alps are located along the northwestern region bordering Gifu and Toyama. The Central Alps are in the southwestern region, and the Southern Alps are along the southeastern border.
After Hokkaido, Nagano Prefecture is home to the second-largest number of ski areas in Japan. It has multiple world-class winter sports resorts within its boundaries, and some were venues for the main events of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. There are ski areas throughout the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, but the majority are in the northern and central regions.
Yabuhara Kogen is the only ski area currently operating in Kiso Village.
About the information on this page
SnowJapan independently researches, checks and updates the information on this page at least once each year, in the lead-up to every ski season. We also update it whenever we become aware of other changes. The information published on SnowJapan is based on independent research using official Japanese-language sources and is not supplied by ski areas. If you are planning to visit a ski area, we recommend checking the official ski area website for the latest operational information. We take great care to keep the information on SnowJapan accurate and up to date. However, SnowJapan accepts no responsibility for decisions made based on information published on this website.
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