Yubari Resort Hokkaido
Yubari Resort, otherwise known as the Mount Racey Ski Resort, is a small ski area located in the town of Yubari Japan. Yubari Hokkaido is known for its melons, but let’s face it, any serious powder hound is unlikely to care much about Yubari melons. They head to Hokkaido in winter for the powder!
Yubari is also known for its financial problems. It was a coal-mining town with a population of 120,000 that’s become somewhat ghost-like after there were fatal methane explosions and since the country went nuclear. The Yubari area now has a population of only 8,000 people and most of these are in their 80s. The Mt Racey Ski Resort has experienced recent financial woes and had to close for a while before partially re-opening, and the hotel doors remain closed. It’s a destitute town that’s hanging on for dear life. When you visit Yubari, you feel like you’re doing the town a good deed!
Pros and Cons of Yubari Resort
Pros
- There might be some identically dressed school kids around, but generally the slopes are uncongested and you’ll probably have the powder in the trees all to yourself (and your tree buddy).
- You can race down the slopes of Mt Racey, although the ski area is best known for the gentle beginner and intermediate slopes where snow ploughers can hang out.
- Mount Racey Ski Resort has some great tree skiing, and it’s relatively sheltered and low elevation compared to other central Hokkaido ski resorts, so it can be a great pick for stormy days.
- The Yubari Ski Resort is the closest major resort to the New Chitose Airport.
- Mt Racey Ski Resort is now on the U.S. based Indy Pass, so perhaps some Indy visitors may revive the failing ski resort.
Cons
- Yubari Resort is rather small.
- There is very little challenging on-piste terrain (like most Japanese ski resorts).
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- There’s negligible lodging, unless you want to stay in the old school camp. It’s more likely to be a ski area to visit on the way to or from the airport, or for a day from nearby ski resorts such as Tomamu or Furano, or whilst on a multi-resort tour.
- Yubari Resort only has moderate elevation so the snow quality can be a little iffy if the temps have risen, but it’s ideal for days when other resorts are snowing and blowing and the lifts are on wind hold.
Mount Racey Ski and Snowboard Terrain
Keep your expectations pretty low if you think big is better. Mt Racey Ski Resort has 4 lifts and18 trails, plus some off-piste skiing in the trees. The resort is way below the treeline, with a top elevation of 702 metres and a vertical drop of 404 metres.
Mount Racey is heaven for beginners and there are also a few racey red runs. The official trail stats are beginner 20%, intermediate 40%, and expert 40%. Whilst one of the “expert” courses hits 45 degrees for a nano-second, the other supposed expert trails are easy enough to send your grandmother down. For example, the “Thrilling Line” is far from thrilling with a maximum gradient of 28 degrees and an average pitch of just 7 degrees, yet either side of this course in the trees is where some of the real thrills are. Yubari Resort also has other “in-bounds” trees as well as a little sidecountry.
Where is Yubari Japan?
Yubari Resort (Mount Racey) is located in south central Hokkaido in the town of Yubari in the Sorachi Sub-Prefecture. Yubari Hokkaido is 55km northeast of the New Chitose Airport (1 hour drive) and 66km east of
Sapporo (approx. 1 hour drive). Mt Racey is 94km by road to the southwest (1.5 hours) of
Furano Ski Resort, and 85km west of
Tomamu Ski Resort.
Mount Racey is sometimes included on
multi-resort tours.
Yubari Resort Accommodation
The ski-in ski-out Hotel Mount Racey at the base of the Mt Racey Ski Resort seems to have been closed, and it’s not clear whether it will re-open.
The other Yubari Resort hotel, the Yubari Hotel Shuparo has also closed, which is probably a good thing because it was a morbid dinosaur of a hotel.
The resort is touting backpacker accommodation at the closed down school, which sounds more like school camp barracks. Alternatively, you might be able to nab a rental house nearby.
Yubari Accommodation Listings
Ski Resort Facilities
The Yubari Ski Resort has equipment rentals, a cafe, and ski and snowboard lessons (in Japanese only).