Kamui Ski Resort Terrain

Kamui Ski Resort is little heaven for powder hounds, with dry powder and fresh tracks.

The highlight of the terrain at the Kamui Ski Resort is the off-piste and out-of-bounds areas that are easily accessed. Best of all, off-piste skiing is permitted. The in-bounds off-piste is predominantly tree skiing (and potentially some bamboo skiing), and the out-of-bounds (sidecountry) areas are a combination of open areas and tree skiing.

Kamui Ski Links is only a small resort, but it offers adequate variety to entertain most levels of skiers and boarders for at least a couple of days. There are a few great cruising runs from top to bottom. None of the on-piste terrain is particularly steep, and the bottom half of the mountain is very gentle in pitch and suited to beginners.

The Kamui Ski Resort has a reputation for being quiet which it generally is, but occasionally there is an influx of ski school participants who form moving obstacles, or sometimes on weekends the local Asahikawa people come out in droves. Off the groomed runs, it is generally uncrowded with good potential for fresh tracks, particularly in the less obvious areas.

Kamui Ski Resort Lifts

The main lift is a gondola, and there are 5 other lifts at Kamui Ski Resort. They are fairly easy to navigate, and the only downside is that the double chairs are painfully slow. On the plus side, you might appreciate the rest? If skiing out-of-bounds you’ll also need to keep an eye on the time for the last lift.

Lift Tickets

Cheap, good value for money, inexpensive, budget – call it what you like, the lift passes will not break the bank. And better yet, the resort now accepts plastic fantastic for lift tickets.

Queues can develop to purchase lift passes, so it’s also possible to purchase Kamui lift tickets at a few of the Asahikawa hotels such as OMO7 Asahikawa and Art Hotel Asahikawa.

A Hokkaido Powder Belt season pass gets you access to Kamui, Furano, and Tomamu, but there are very limited passes available and in August 2023 the passes sold out in 10 days. There are also 5 day passes available.

Kamui Ski Resort is also on the Japan Powder Pass which is a season pass that’s also valid at Niseko Moiwa and Kiroro.

Kamui is also on the Indy Pass, providing 2 days of skiing or snowboarding.

Kamui Snow

Kamui Snow Like a lot of Japanese ski areas, it’s not accurately known what the average snowfall per season at Kamui is, and whether the 8 metre figure is something someone at Kamui plucked out of the air one day. Even the daily snow accumulation they cite on Facebook is often under-reported and the snow depth in the sidecountry is much deeper.

Kamui Ski Resort does well out of northwesterly storms and it’s positioned well geographically to get moderate snow volumes as well as quality snow. And as with other Central Hokkaido ski resorts, the temps are generally very cold. It’s samui at Kamui so the snow quality is often gold! Even if there hasn’t been a fresh snowfall, the powder tends to remain good thanks to a predominantly NW facing aspect.

That being said, it’s not at high elevation so it might not be the resort of choice if temps warm up (see Hokkaido snow stats for elevation etc).

Sometimes during blizzards, the gondola and some of the pair lifts go on wind-hold.

Beginner and Intermediate Ski and Board Terrain

With 80 perfect of the piste terrain dedicated to beginners and intermediates, there’s just enough on offer for those on the L and P plates. The grooming is of good quality. The only limitation can be all the other punters on the slopes.

For intermediates wanting to progress the turns, the top half of the mountain has a reasonable pitch.

Terrain Park

The tiny terrain park seems to have disappeared, so Kamui will no longer form a training ground for the next up and coming world freestyle champion!

Off-Piste Skiing Kamui

There are no steep pitches at Kamui Links, but as a result of the very relaxed approach to off-piste skiing, there is plenty to entertain the advanced rider with some good powder stashes and tree skiing within the resort. A handful of designated tree runs that are marked as double black diamond, have widely spaced trees and potentially some bamboo. These tend to get tracked out rather quickly.

Under the gondola are some semi gladed zones and there are also some tight pitchy trees where freshies last for a long time, although beware that not all valleys lead down.

Kamui Sidecountry & Backcountry

There are some easily accessed out-of-bounds areas that require no hiking, which is great for lazy powder hounds. In many areas the spacing between the trees is beautifully wide, and with not too many riders venturing out-of-bounds, the powder found here can be fresh and very deep. There’s not much vertical so the runs are short, and it requires a decent traverse to return to the double chair lift. The slow traverse may be somewhat frustrating for snowboarders, especially if you’re the first ones through.

The steepest terrain and best snow quality is further afield (so not many snowboarders head there) but be mindful that this terrain can be avalanche prone. As with any backcountry skiing, the usual precautions apply. At least there’s no longer a sign just outside the boundary that says “ski here and you will die”!

You’ll want to be on a guided tour or have good route finding skills and skins as it’s easy to end up in zones where you could be hiking out in waist deep powder. Don’t follow tracks blindly as a pair of skins will get you additional lines of fresh powder and you don't know who you are following.