After a bit of a shabby February, we were lucky to hit Shiga Kogen towards the end of February when Puki Yuki finalised realised it was supposed to be winter and cold and snowy.

We skied at Yakebi across a couple of days, with guiding from Japan Powder Culture Tours. The first day was a big storm, and whilst many lifts across Shiga Kogen were on wind hold, Yakebitaiyama managed to get a gondola and chair open, which provided access to lots of blissful turns. Considering the brutal weather, it was a godsend to ride on a gondola and hooded quad. It was a deep deep day and the face shots were coming in thick and fast, both on-piste and off-piste.

It was still snowing the next day and more lifts opened, including the Okushiga lifts, which widened the options on offer from Yakebi. The tree skiing was phenomenal and it was great that Yakebi has a variety of both evergreen and deciduous trees.

You can see how we rate Yakebi in more detail on the Honshu ski resort ratings. Note that Shiga Kogen is rated higher than the individual ski areas considering that it offers more terrain.
See our video here