Yunodai is a ski area located in Okura Village in Yamagata Prefecture.
This ski area is usually open from December (as soon as there is enough snow) through to late April or early May, though only on weekends and holidays in the peak season.
The two rope tow lifts at Yunodai are a 700+m walk from the car park and a little further from the Nordic-kan 'base building', both by the side of Route 458. (Thankfully, you can usually ski back down to the car park).
A cross country ski course is also available at the base of the gentle slopes.
Hijiori Onsen hot springs are about 3km to the west.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
565
Vertical (m)
75
Bottom/base (m)
490
Beginner runs (%)
70
Intermediate runs (%)
30
Advanced runs (%)
0
Longest course (m)
450
Steepest slope (°)
16
Number of courses
1
Ski lifts
2
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
0
Triple lift (3-person)
0
Pair lift (2-person)
0
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
2
Information
Normal season dates
Yunodai usually plans to be open from early December until early May. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Yunodai is normally open from 9:00am until 4:00pm, but it is not open every day through the season. The ski area is normally open daily from early December until mid January and then from mid March until early April. It is only open on weekends and holidays from mid January through early March and from mid April until the end of the season.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
2,000 yen
Half day
1,500 yen
Season ticket
15,000 yen
Lift ticket charges are the same for everyone.
A ticket for using the cross country course is 400 yen (3,000 yen for the season), which is effectively for using the Nordic-kan building by the side of Route 458.
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: 7th December - 19th April (134 days)
2024-2025 season: 1st December - 6th May (157 days)
2023-2024 season: 3rd December - 14th April (134 days)
2022-2023 season: 3rd December - 30th April (149 days)
2021-2022 season: 20th December - 5th May (137 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
Data for this ski area is not available.
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.
Yunodai is the only ski area currently operating in Okura 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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