Katsurazawa Kokusetsu Ski Resort

Katsurazawa Kokusetsu Ski Resort in Hokkaido, or Katsurazawa National, is a small local ski hill run by the town of Mikasa. Katsurazawa Kokusetsu is a good spot to go if you have beginners in your group and you want a quiet Japanese vibe. Or if you happen to be driving between Asahikawa and Sapporo and Puki Yuki is throwing tissues down from the sky, you might want to buy a 3 hour pass and blast some powder turns.

Pros and Cons of Katsurazawa Kokusetsu

Pros 

• The ski resort is uncrowded and delightfully devoid of western influence.
• Lift tickets are inexpensive, and you can buy single ride or 3 hour passes to make it even cheaper.
• The piste is wide, so it’s a good place to practise turns.
• Whilst it is at low elevation, Katsurazawa Ski Resort has a nice NNE aspect that helps to keep the snow fluffy.

Cons

• It’s a small, mostly mellow ski area. It’s lucky that they sell single ride tickets because you might be bored after one run.

Katsurazawa Kokusetsu Ski and Snowboard Terrain

Katsurazawa Kokusetsu Ski resort has one double chair lift that runs from an elevation of 106 to 320 metres (214 metres of vertical). It has a mid-station where beginners can alight. The ski resort has 3 courses, or 4 depending on your definition of a course. It’s a wide open area so there’s room for riding ungroomed snow without heading into the trees. The resort isn’t expecting anyone to go into the trees, so these aren’t fenced off, but undoubtedly you’ll need to be discrete with tree skiing so as not to scare the locals! The tree zones are small and mellow.

On weekends the locals might be out ski racing, and there might be school children around during the week, but otherwise the slopes are quiet and the lift lines non-existent.

Katsurazawa Snow

Snow volumes specifically for the Katsurazawa Ski Resort are unknown. This area of Hokkaido typically gets respectable amounts of snow, but nothing like the crazy snow dumps received by the Hokkaido ski resorts to the southwest near the coast.

Snow quality is usually good in the height of winter, and the aspect helps to retain the snow. When temperatures rise, the low elevation of the ski resort tends to play out.

Typically the Katsurazawa ski season runs from mid December through to mid March.

Where is Katsurazawa Kokusetsu?

The Katsurazawa Kokusetsu ski-jo is located in a mountainous area near Lake Katsurazawa, 10km east of downtown Mikasa in the Sorachi subprefecture of Hokkaido. The ski area is 63km northeast of Sapporo (1 hour drive) and about 100km southwest of Asahikawa.

Whilst it’s a bit of a distance by road, Katsurazawa is in similar region to Yubari Ski Resort. Like the town of Yubari, the town of Mikasa was founded via its coal mining roots and the population continues to dwindle now that other forms of energy are more widely used.

The telephone number for GPS navigation is 01267-6-8235 and parking is free.

Ski Resort Facilities

The cafeteria has nice big windows with views of the slopes and a good variety of inexpensive fare, and naturally there is katsu! The ski resort has basic ski and snowboard equipment rentals, and on weekends and holidays, a kids’ park is set up near the base.