Sugadaira Kogen Snow Resort, often just known as Sugadaira, is a ski area located in Ueda City in the northern region of Nagano Prefecture.
Sugadaira is made up of three separately operated areas called Davos, Taro and Pine Beak. They cover a very wide area and are not all lift- or course-connected. However, a joint lift ticket is available, and a bus service runs between them on weekends and holidays.
Various aspects of Sugadaira are... complicated!
The number of courses at Sugadaira varies greatly depending on how they are counted. The ski area itself claims a huge 60 courses, but many of those are small sections of what might otherwise be called one run. Therefore, after consulting various guidebooks and maps, we are going with 36 as a more realistic number.
The Sugadaira highland area does not usually receive as much snow as other nearby regions and is not known for steep runs. Still, the snow quality is usually good due to consistently low temperatures. In addition, snow-making machines have traditionally been on hand on some runs to help nature if necessary.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1620
Vertical (m)
370
Bottom/base (m)
1250
Beginner runs (%)
20
Intermediate runs (%)
60
Advanced runs (%)
20
Longest course (m)
4000
Steepest slope (°)
36
Number of courses
36
Ski lifts
19
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
4
Triple lift (3-person)
7
Pair lift (2-person)
8
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
0
Information
Normal season dates
Sugadaira usually plans to be open from late November until mid-April. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening hours
Sugadaira Kogen Snow Resort is normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm during the daytime.
Night skiing
Night skiing is usually available on the Hinode slope in the Taro area on Fridays and Saturdays, holidays and also over the New Year period. A separate lift ticket (2,000 yen for adults) is required for night skiing.
Park & Cat tours
Various snow park areas and items are available across the slopes of Sugadaira. Snow cat tours are also available in the Davos area. They start from the top of the Number 1 triple lift in the Davos Area.
Families & children
There are a few Kids Park areas (in each of the main areas of Sugadaira).
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at Sugadaira Kogen.
Rental
Ski and snowboard equipment & wear rental is available.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
Adult: 6,400 yen
Child: 3,800 yen
Senior: 5,800 yen
2 days
Adult: 12,000 yen
Child: 7,000 yen
Senior: 11,000 yen
A refundable 500 yen deposit is required to purchase tickets.
Tickets shown are valid at all three areas of Sugadaira (Pine Peak, Taro and Davos) and available between 6th December and 31st March.
Cheaper tickets that are only valid at just Davos & Taro or Pine Beak are also available.
Children ages 3 and below are not charged, though a ticket is required.
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: 22nd November - 12th April (142 days)
2024-2025 season: 22nd November - 20th April (150 days)
2023-2024 season: 25th November - 21st April (149 days)
2022-2023 season: 10th December - 31st March (112 days)
2021-2022 season: 10th December - 3rd April (115 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 150cm on 10th-14th February
2024-2025 season: 170cm on 20th-23rd March
2023-2024 season: 180cm on 21st-22nd March
2022-2023 season: 80cm on 25th January - 9th March
2021-2022 season: 175cm on 23rd-24th February
2020-2021 season: 105cm on 9th-13th and 18th-20th February
2019-2020 season: 115cm on 9th, 11th-12th and 14th February
2018-2019 season: 150cm on 29th January - 3rd February
2017-2018 season: 115cm on 18th-23rd February
2016-2017 season: 170cm on 22nd January - 2nd March
2015-2016 season: 140cm on 11th-13th February
2014-2015 season: 170cm on 23rd-24th February
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.
Sugadaira Kogen Snow Resort is one of 2 ski areas currently operating in Ueda City.
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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