Suishozan Ski Area Akita

Suishozan Ski Resort is a small locals’ ski area in the town of Kazuno in Akita. The slopes are mellow and it’s popular for night skiing.

Pros and Cons of Suishozan

Pros 

• The ski area is perfect for beginners progressing to intermediate who want to focus on their turns in peace.
• The ski area is very uncrowded during the day on weekdays.

Cons

• Like many Akita ski areas, it’s tiny.
• Suishozan is a mellow ski area that has nothing on offer for advanced skiers and snowboarders.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective

• Lift passes are inexpensive, but you don’t get much for your yen.
• The facilities are basic and there is no accommodation at the base.

Suishozan Ski and Snowboard Terrain

The Suishozan ski area has one old double chairlift that operates at a very leisurely pace. The terrain has 5 courses and 211 metres of vertical, from 476 to 265 metres of elevation.

Like a lot of Japanese ski areas, Suishozan has shrunk over the years and it used to be wider and higher. An old upper lift sits decaying above the existing ski area and there are also old lift towers that sit parallel to the operating chair lift.

The trail statistics are 60% beginner, 30% intermediate and 10% advanced, but in reality there is no piste terrain for advanced riders. The maximum gradient of 26 degrees on one course doesn’t last for long.

There are small tree zones to the skiers’ left of the lift where occasionally they open up enough to become skiable, although the terrain is probably too mellow to be much fun anyhow.

The ski area isn’t open every day, so keep an eye on the operating schedule.

Suishozan Snow

On average, Suishozan Ski Resort reaches a snow base of about 1 metre, so it doesn’t receive the same big snow volumes as many of the northern Tohoku ski areas. Even though the ski area is not at high elevation, the snow that falls is reasonably well retained due to its northeast aspect.

The ski area doesn’t have a long season and is often open from mid to late December to early March, pending snow conditions.

Where is Suishozan?

Suishozan is located in the northeastern part of the Akita Prefecture, near the town of Kazuno.

Other ski areas nearby:

• Hanawa is 8km to the northeast
• Akita Hachimantai is 32km to the south
• Tayama in the Iwate Prefecture is 25km to the southeast
• Appi in the Iwate Prefecture is 48km to the southeast

Accommodation

There is no accommodation at Suishozan.

We stayed at the Yuze Hotel Resort in the village of Yuze Onsen, which is 13km to the southeast.

Facilities

The ski resort facilities are old and basic. In addition to a cafeteria, there are lockers and a rental equipment shop.