Moiwayama Sapporo

Moiwayama is a skiers-only ski resort that prides itself on being the closest ski resort to downtown Sapporo. In addition to banning snowboarders, it’s also famous for night skiing. Whilst the night views over Sapporo are not quite as spectacular as those from the nearby Mt Moiwa Ropeway, the Sapporo Moiwayama ski resort (Moiwayama Ski Jominamishamen) still offers great views as sunset hits.

Moiwayama Ski Resort should not be confused with the Moiwa Ski Resort which is also in Hokkaido and adjacent to Niseko United. 

Pros and Cons of Moiwayama

Pros 

• It’s close to the city of Sapporo.
• It offers great night skiing views across Sapporo City.
• A few of the runs have a nice steep pitch.

Cons

• Sapporo Moiwayama is a small ski area that won’t hold the attention of accomplished skiers for long.
• The Moiwayama ski resort is not at high elevation and the aspect of the slopes is also not conducive to the retention of quality snow.
• It can be inundated with school kids on weekdays.
• As is common with many Japanese ski areas, the lift infrastructure is ageing and primitive.
• The day lodge is rundown and rusty.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective

• Snowboarders are not permitted at the ski area.

Moiwayama Ski Terrain

Moiwayama has two base areas. The smaller south area has 1 triple chairlift and a couple of courses. The main north area (which is to the northeast) has 4 lifts including a single and double chair that run in parallel, and a double and triple lift further up the mountain. Overall Moiwayama has 5 lifts and 10 courses, of which 7 are suitable for night skiing.

The north base has the main beginner runs, whilst further up are the intermediate and advanced runs. Typically only the intermediate courses are groomed, whilst the black runs are left to bump up. The Dynamic Course hits a maximum slope angle of 37 degrees and the steepest part of Karamatsu Course is 38 degrees.

Off-piste, many of the trees have tight spacing, although the skiability of them is mostly dependent on the snow quality.

Moiwayama Snow

Despite being at modest elevation, Moiwayama receives a good amount of snow, akin to the other Sapporo ski resorts. On average, the snow base sits at about 1.2 metres in the height of winter, mostly due to the low elevation and the south to southeast facing slopes that don’t retain the snow well.

The Sapporo Moiwayama ski season is not very long and it generally runs from mid December to mid March.

Where is Moiwayama?

Moiwayama Ski Area sits in the Chuo Ward of Sapporo in Hokkaido Japan, and it is promoted as the closest ski area to downtown Sapporo.

There are two base areas, which are 4.6km apart from each other by road. The north is the primary base and where ski rentals and other amenities are located, and it’s only 8.8km southwest of the Sapporo train station, which equates to about a 20 minute drive depending on traffic.

There are buses to the Sapporo Moiwayama Ski Area from the Makomanai Station on the Namboku Subway Line that have a trip time of about 10 minutes.

There are also daily shuttles from some Sapporo hotels such as the Sapporo Tokyo REI Hotel.

Accommodation

Considering its proximity to the city of Sapporo, it makes sense to stay in Sapporo and also visit other ski resorts. See the Sapporo overview for a list of Sapporo ski resorts.

The Sapporo hotels provide reasonably good value for money.

Sapporo Hotel Listings

Facilities

Most of the buildings that house the facilities and services are from a bygone era. There is a cafeteria, ski equipment rentals (north slope lodge), and a variety of privately administered ski schools that provide lessons (in Japanese).