Snow Paradise Inawashiro 

Snow Paradise Inawashiro is located within Bandai Asahi National Park, which can be conveniently accessed from Tokyo. The 1hour 30 minute Shinkansen ride and 40 minute ride on the local Ban-Etsu West Line will take you to Inawashiro Station, “the gateway to the highland resorts”. A free shuttle bus will transport you from there up to the ski resort in 15 minutes. 

In winter, Snow Paradise Inawashiro is considered a snow paradise and as you come down the slopes a superb panoramic view of Lake Inawashiro unfolds before your eyes. The spectacular scenery, among the finest in Japan, is sure to capture your heart and have you coming back time and again. 

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Inawashiro Ski Resort is the best resort for beginners and low intermediate level skiers.	There is minimal piste terrain for advanced riders and it’s not particularly challenging.
Fewer people on weekdays.	You may need to visit other nearby ski resorts to make it worth the trip. Inawashiro can provide one or 2 days of riding only.
The resort has not been invaded by tourists yet, so you won’t find a lot of foreigners on these slopes.
The region has a lot of ryokans and/or hot springs available

Different courses for different levels

Summary

No. of Courses: 18

No. of Lifts: 8

Longest run: 3550 m

Vertical drop: 580 m

Height at the Summit: 1255 m

The difficulty levels of Slopes are as follow:

50% Beginner; 35% Intermediate; 15% Advanced

Special Trails

Enjoy the beautiful view of Lake Inawashiro from the Chuo Gelande

Night Skiing, Hayama Course, Furikozaka Course and Chuo Gelande.
The Nishi Gelande offers the “Fake Cross” which is popular among children.

Other important information

There is a ski school available, however you will need to be able to understand Japanese to participate, as the lessons are not offered in English. A day care facility is also available (although the staff does not speak English either), a Room for children as well as a small Sponge Bob Park.

Other ski resort facilities include ski school (no lessons in English), snowboard and ski rentals (including some rear entry ski boots!), day care facilities (no English speaking staff), a kids’ room, a Sponge Bob Kids Park, and lounges with massage chairs.

Snow park

The snow park on the central slopes of Inawashiro Ski Resort has a great topography and offers various courses and obtsacles. It is a snow park where you can freely choose the terrain and items according to your mood and skill. With a variety of items such as waves, walls, boxes, and rails, you can enjoy it regardless of your level.

There are many items in a variety of shapes, such as wide boxes designed for beginners and low boxes with a low height.

• kicker 5m tabletop
• high rail
• quarter
• donkey rail
• flat wide box
• side inner box

Special Equipment

• Recorder

Movie Recorder ver.1.0.0 automatically edits skiing scenes captured by multiple high-speed cameras installed on the slopes with a program that incorporates AI and machine learning. It records videos and skiing times on your smartphone. It is a system that allows you to check it on the spot, download the video file and post it to any social media.

• The Clear dome of love

“Ina Suki! Clear Dome” is a frameless transparent dome that favours the perfection of dome shape, and mix ease and unity with nature.

The spectacular lake view overlooking Lake Inawashiro from the dome is a valuable location that cannot be experienced at other ski resorts. You will be overwhelmed by nature and its scenery without anything blocking your view, such as a frame. You can also see snow fireworks from inside the clear dome!

• wax tunnel

The wax Tunnel is a very fast to set tup (about 30 seconds) from application of liquid wax to drying, which is essential for skiing and snowboarding. You can improve the operability and speed when gliding.

Inawashiro Ski Resort restaurant

The town of Inawashiro has various restaurants (however they don’t seem to speak English), and basic amenities such as a large supermarket, multiple convenience stores, and a post office with an ATM.

However, there are a lot of hot springs in the area!

Recommended Hot Springs Around Inawashiro Ski Resort

Seifutei

Seifutei is a very nice boutique-hotel ryokan located 1.5km from Inawashiro Ski Resort.

It offers Japanese/western combo rooms :

• Tatami flooring and Japanese decor, including a private outdoor onsen bath.
• western beds for comfort

Half board packages with traditional kaiseki multi-course dinner and Japanese breakfast are available.

Active Resorts Urabandai

The Urabandai Royal Hotel, now called the Active resorts Urabandai is the largest hotel in the area, and is well placed to explore the other Aizu ski resorts in the Mt bandai region.

You can choose your rooms to be Japanese style tatami rooms or western rooms.

Rates

Season: Dec. – Mar.

All Area Lift Pass Rates:

• 1 Day All Area Pass – 4,400 yen (Adult)
• 4 Hour All Area Pass – 3,900 yen (Adult)
• 1 Time Pass – 400 yen (Adult)
• Family Pass – 6,500 yen (1 Adult and 1 Child)
• Family, Children and Senior pricing also available
• Individual Season Pass – 40,000 yen (Weekday)

Equipment rates

Other ski resorts nearby

• GranDeco 
• Nekoma 
• Urabandai Kogen Ski Area
• Minowa 
• Alts Bandai 
• Adatara Kogen