Kanayasan Ski Area

金谷山スキー場
Kanayasan Ski Area map

Joetsu City, Niigata

新潟県上越市

* Information on this page is from the 2023-2024 ski season. Updates for next season will be made by late 2024.

Planned ski season (subject to change) [?]
January 2025 until late February/March 2025

Previous ski seasons (actual dates) [?]
2023-2024: 28th January 2024 - 15th February 2024
2022-2023: 1st February 2023 - 28th February 2023
2021-2022: 16th January 2022 - 12th March 2022

Introduction

Kanayasan is a ski area located close to the centre of Joetsu City in the western region of Niigata Prefecture, north of Myoko.

Kanayasan played an important role in the history of skiing in Japan. It is where the Austrian Major Theodor Edler von Lerch first introduced skiing to Japan in 1911, teaching young officers of the nearby Takada Regiment to ski. There is a small memorial museum near the base of the ski area to commemorate this fact.

More about the history of skiing in Japan can be found in our introduction to skiing in Japan guides.

Modern-day Kanayasan ski area is small, with one single lift and a base elevation of just over 20m. Unfortunately, in recent years this low-lying region does not receive as much snow as it used to. That often means that the ski season can be quite short.

This ski area is one of two operating within Joetsu City. The other is Cupid Valley, over 30km to the east.

The Mountain

Max Elevation

134m

Top elevation

Vertical Difference

113m

Vertical

Min Elevation

21m

Base elevation

Total Ski Courses

4

Number of courses

Longest Course

780m

Longest course

Steepest Slope

27°

Steepest course

25%

Beginner

50%

Intermediate

25%

Advanced

1

Total ski lift

ropeways 0

0

Ropeways

gondolas 0

0

Gondolas

quad lifts 0

0

Quad lifts

triple lifts 0

0

Triple lifts

pair lifts

0

Pair lifts

single lifts

1

Single lift

other lifts 0

0

Other lifts

Skiers

65%

Snowboarders

35%

Skiing and snowboarding are both allowed at Kanayasan Ski Area
Kanayasan Ski Area course map small
The above image has been created by SnowJapan to show the position of ski lifts at Kanayasan Ski Area.

Kanayasan Ski Area facilities

park facilities

Park, off-piste & other activities

N/A

children facilities

Families & children

There is an area for sledging.

Lessons

Lessons

N/A

Rental

Rental & other facilities

N/A

Kanayasan Ski Area opening information

Opening time

Typical season

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Kanayasan is normally open from 9:00am until 4:30pm.

There is no night skiing at this area.

Kanayasan Ski Area address & further information

address

Oonuki 595-2
Joetsu-shi
Niigata-ken
943-0893

Telephone: 025-525-4295