Gassan is a ski area in Nishikawa Town in the central region of Yamagata Prefecture.
This ski area is located on the southern slopes of Mt Ubagatake to the southwest of the Mt Gassan peak. The car park of the ski area is about 11km from Route 112 on a winding road.
This region gets a lot of snowfall, and the ski area only opens for the late spring season, usually from April until summer.
Gassan ski area has one 1km pair lift and two T-bar lifts. Depending on the snow surface conditions, the actual location of the T-bar lifts change.
Unlike most ski areas in Japan, the skiable area is relatively wide-open, without the many trees that are so normal in Japan, and backcountry tours are popular.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1600
Vertical (m)
900
Bottom/base (m)
700
Beginner runs (%)
30
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
30
Longest course (m)
5000
Steepest slope (°)
35
Number of courses
4
Ski lifts
3
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
0
Triple lift (3-person)
0
Pair lift (2-person)
1
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
2
Information
Normal season dates
Gassan usually plans to be open from mid- to early April until early July. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Gassan is open from 8:00am until 4:30pm.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing.
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at Gassan. Backcountry tour services are also available.
Rental
There are no equipment rental facilities.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
Adult: 5,800 yen
Child: 3,500 yen
Morning
Adult: 4,600 yen
Child: 2,100 yen
Afternoon
Adult: 4,600 yen
Child: 2,100 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 1,200 yen
Child: 600 yen
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: 10th April - 11th July
2024-2025 season: 11th April - 20th June
2023-2024 season: 12th April - 5th July
2022-2023 season: 11th April - 5th July
2021-2022 season: 10th April - 9th July
Deepest recorded snow depth
Data is not available for this ski area.
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
Introduction to the region
Yamagata Prefecture is located in the southwestern corner of Tohoku, facing the Sea of Japan. Yamagata is bordered by Akita Prefecture to the north, Miyagi Prefecture to the east, Fukushima Prefecture to the south, and Niigata Prefecture to the southwest.
There are quite a lot of ski areas across the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture. In fact, after Hokkaido, Nagano Prefecture, and Niigata Prefecture, Yamagata is home to the fourth-most ski areas in the country. However, many are small and have only one or two ski lifts (some of which are surface rope-tow type lifts).
The larger ski areas in Yamagata Prefecture are located in the mountainous eastern and southern regions, close to the borders with Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture.
The largest ski area in Yamagata Prefecture, by far (and one of the largest individual ski areas in Japan), is Zao Onsen in Yamagata City.
Gassan is one of 2 ski areas currently operating in Nishikawa Town.
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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