We were driving through the area one afternoon enroute to visit Akita Hachimantai and thought we’d stop at Suishozan to make sure we weren’t missing anything. After visiting powder gems in northern Hokkaido that only had 1 or 2 lifts, we didn’t want to be too hasty in discounting Suishozan. It had been snowing that morning and we were hoping for more fresh powder lines.

The place was mostly deserted and there were only about 6 people riding on the hill. We had to ring a bell to get someone to sell us lift tickets, and we felt guilty that we were just buying a handful of single ride passes.

Even before we’d bought the inexpensive passes, two problems were immediately apparent. The first was the lack of snow, and like nearby Hanawa and Owani, Suishozan was not having a great snow season. A staff member was indicating to us to be careful venturing just off the side of the course due to the lack of base (even though the ski area was reporting a base of 70cm!), so heading fully off-piste was definitely out of the question. The second limitation was a distinct lack of pitch which was also a detractor from tree skiing.

Nevertheless we had some fun getting fresh powder turns on the mellow piste, but considering the slow pace of the chair lift we didn’t feel it was worth returning to the ticket office to get more passes. The onsen at the Yuze Hotel was calling.
See our video here