Easy to go by bus at Otaru station
Red Ropeway good
At top see snow and sea
See our video here

Shhhh! Don’t tell a soul, if you found this page you found your one day in paradise. Only reason giving this a review is to help keep it running as I know it is struggling. Won’t say any more about it then “wow”. Get out there and explore!!
See our video here

The low elevation ski resorts in Hokkaido can be a little bit of a hit or miss, but the temps were reasonably cold so Otaru Tenguyama was a hit! It was an absolute ripper little ski area that packed a lot of punch and it was so refreshing after a powder day at Kiroro where it felt like every gaijin in Japan was there.

The tree skiing was superb with fall line trees and plenty of pitch, especially near the steep A run, and there were only 3 other riders to share the powder with. The ski patrollers were keeping a watchful eye over us but didn’t make an approach.

Some people were a fraction annoyed when we first put Tenguyama on Powderhounds.com because it’s a little gem and I can see why they’d want to keep it for themselves. But so many of these little gems in Japan have shut up shop due to a lack of visitors, and keeping it a complete secret won’t keep it viable. The ropeway tourism may keep the ropeway open in summer at least, but looking at the state of affairs at the base (including a very dilapidated glass studio), it doesn’t look like the area is rolling in money. Hopefully the ski resort will stay open.

You can see our Japanese ski resort ratings to see how we compare Otaru Tenguyama to other ski areas.
See our video here