YAMABOKU Wild Snow Park is located in Takayama village in Nagano Prefecture, on the south western slopes of Kasagadake. This area feels different from most Japanese ski hills with less trees and a much more open feel. It features a number of ungroomed courses and various guided tours including snowshoe, telemarking.
There are a few main areas - '1st Stage', which is the main course area (of which 70% is left ungroomed), and '2nd Stage' which is a mostly ungroomed 'private area'. In Stage 2 you join a special cat program or reserve use of the private area. Reservations are required for both and run from early January until late February 2021.
The Number 2 pair lift will not be operating for the 2020-2021 season.
YAMABOKU Wild Snow Park is actually geographically very close to the
Kumanoyu area of Shiga Kogen, but the connecting road is closed during the winter months. Until 2010, this ski hill was called 'Yamada Bokujo'.
Nagano Prefecture is located in the Chubu region of the main island of Honshu. Most of the Northern Alps, Central Alps and Southern Alps are located within Nagano (along with neighbouring prefectures). Nagano has the second highest number of ski and snowboard resorts in all of Japan and they are spread around the whole prefecture. Nagano city and many of the major ski resorts are located in the northern region.