Kamoidake Kokusai
Kamoidake Ski Resort in Hokkaido is unfortunately like too many Japanese ski areas that have seen a partial demise. Kamoidake Kokusai has experienced some financial woes and had to close in 2019. It used to have two main areas, West and East, and since it reopened for the 2021/22 season, only the East zone has been operating (although it had a random opening in late February 2023).
Despite the major shrinkage of the Kamoidake ski area, it still has some appealing traits for powder hounds including a relaxed attitude to off-piste skiing, reasonable tree runs and sidecountry areas, and a lack of crowds. “Kokusai” means “international” yet Kamoidake Kokusai is completely off the radar of international skiers and snowboarders.
Pros and Cons of Kamoidake
Pros
- Kamoidake is uncrowded and visitors are mostly the defence force or ski racers who are not interested in poaching your powder.
- Kamoidake gets doused with plenty of quality Central Hokkaido snow.
- Kamoidake is ideal for intermediate riders, with wide open runs of varying pitch.
- A new terrain park with its rails, boxes and jumps is starting to attract a little attention.
- If you’ve got wheels, Kamoidake can be visited as a day trip from Furano or Asahikawa.
- Lift passes are cheap.
Cons
- It is a little ski area with not enough terrain variety to hold the attention of experienced riders for very long.
- The lifts are slow and old.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- The ski area has some sidecountry that requires careful navigation or a guide.
Kamoidake Ski and Snowboard Terrain
Kamoidake is just a small ski area with 2 slow double chair lifts. The vertical is 251 metres from 216 to 467 metres, and there are just 5 courses. Whilst beginner runs are indicated on the trail map, they require an initial descent on an intermediate run and in the absence of a mid station on the lifts, Kamoidake is not appropriate for first timers or nervous beginners. The courses are all for intermediates and have a little pitch at the top, and there is no piste terrain for advanced riders. Kamoidake Ski Resort has a new terrain park adjacent to the A lift.
On a weekday when the ski racers and defence force are not milling about, it wouldn’t be unheard of to feel like you had visited a private ski resort.
Kamoidake has a very small amount of tree skiing within the resort boundaries, and it seems kosher. There are also easy trees just to the side of the ski area. If you head further into the sidecountry there are cliffs and gullies, so plenty of navigation nous or a guide is required. Different backcountry lines terminate on the road.
If you have access to a driver, you can ski the former West area for more fresh laps. The courses are more mellow than the East side, whilst some treed areas provide a little more pitch.
You can see how we've rated the Kamoidake ski terrain on the
Hokkaido ski area ratings.
Kamoidake Snow
The top elevation is not particularly high and the aspect predominantly east facing on the operational side, but during the middle of winter when temperatures are cold, the quality of the snow is usually pretty good. It’s well located in Hokkaido, not too far from the coast, so it usually scores good volumes of snow and probably a little more snow than nearby
Kamui Ski Links.
Where is Kamoidake?
Kamoidake is located in
Central Hokkaido in the zone between the cities of Sapporo and Asahikawa. It is 91km northeast of
Sapporo and 55km southwest of
Asahikawa.
See the
Kamoidake travel page for more information on location and getting there.
Accommodation
Kamoidake Onsen is an old style hotel at the base that barely seems operational. It’s not ski-in ski-out as it sits down below the access road, and there are no direct stairs to get up to the ski area.
As Kamoidake is usually just visited for a one day trip, most people stay in
Asahikawa accommodation or
Furano accommodation.
Ski Resort Facilities
The Kamoidake ski resort facilities and services are in the Center House and cover the basics. There is a cafeteria, equipment rentals and lockers.
The hotel has an onsen which can be utilised by day trippers.
