Taranokidai is a ski area located in Tsuruoka City in the northwestern region of Yamagata Prefecture.
This ski area has one pair lift and is popular for night skiing.
On weekdays Taranokidai is only open between 5:00pm and 9:00pm and is closed during the daytime.
However, on weekends and holidays, it opens at 9:00am.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
365
Vertical (m)
105
Bottom/base (m)
260
Beginner runs (%)
30
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
30
Longest course (m)
1300
Steepest slope (°)
34
Number of courses
5
Ski lifts
1
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
0
Information
Normal season dates
Taranokidai usually plans to be open from mid- to late December until early March. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Taranokidai is normally open from 5:00pm until 9:00pm on weekdays (ie. it is closed during the daytime). It opens on weekends and holidays from 9:00am. On those days the lifts are closed between 4:00pm and 5:00pm before night operations.
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at Taranokidai.
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: 2,900 yen
Child: 2,000 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 220 yen
Child: 150 yen
11 lift coupons
Adult: 2,200 yen
Child: 1,300 yen
4 hours
Adult: 2,000 yen
Child: 1,200 yen
Night
Adult: 2,000 yen
Child: 1,000 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 20,400 yen
Child: 10,200 yen
A one day ticket for seniors is 1,300 yen.
A night skiing ticket for ladies is 1,300 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: 1st January - 1st March (60 days)
2024-2025 season: 21st December - 2nd March (72 days)
2023-2024 season: 23rd December - 3rd March (72 days)
2022-2023 season: 17th December - 28th February (74 days)
2021-2022 season: 26th December - 6th March (71 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 225cm on 3rd February
2024-2025 season: 175cm on 24th February
2023-2024 season: 60cm on 23rd December and 27th-29th January
2022-2023 season: 190cm on 31st January
2021-2022 season: 240cm on 5th February
2020-2021 season: 220cm on 11th-12th January
2019-2020 season: 75cm on 11th-12th February
2018-2019 season: 200cm on 15th-19th February
2017-2018 season: 360cm on 14th February
2016-2017 season: 200cm on 24th-28th January
2015-2016 season: 180cm on 10th-11th and 17th-18th February
2014-2015 season: 205cm on 4th February
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.
Taranokidai is one of 2 ski areas currently operating in Tsuruoka 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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