It had been 9 years since the last visit to Maiko so it was definitely time to head back. The snow base was very deep and I was incredibly lucky that Maiko had scored 60cm of fresh snow overnight! There was a 30 minute delay in opening the ski area, which seemed reasonable considering the massive amount of snow, so a queue for the gondola had developed. Otherwise, there were zero lift lines for the rest of the day, and fresh tracks were easy to come by without having to do much scouting around. Sure it was a weekday, yet the lack of crowds on a 60cm powder day would definitely be unheard of in Colorado or many other parts of North America.

The sun came out a few times during the day, which quickly soured some of the lines off the Oku quad, whilst the north facing slopes in the FWT zone remained deep, delicious and mostly untracked.

This visit was during a very snowy cycle in the Yuzawa area which was accompanied by plenty of wind. Whilst Kagura and Naeba had all or most of their lifts on wind-hold, Maiko was able to remain open.

This was an epic powder day that was topped off by an obligatory crepe.
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I went here on more of a scouting mission. The temps were on the rise and the snow went to snot quite quickly, but I was able to get a decent feel of the resort.

Apart from a few sanctioned tree runs, most off-piste areas are officially off-limits. They don't seem to police this too much, however there are plenty of signs to remind you of the financial implications of rescue out of bounds. Notwithstanding, the best looking areas inevitably funnel into some nasty gullies.

It looks like there is some nice backcountry access. I saw some nice tracks coming down from the peak above neighboring Iwappara. Egress might be another issue altogether.

Like other Yuzawa resorts, it likely gets mobbed on weekends and holidays, but the lift system is good. In all, it's probably worth a visit on the right day, but keep your expectations in check.
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Starting the run after alighting the gondola you will be greater by awesome mountain views. The gradient of the black ungroomed run is approx 26 degrees, deep moguls run for about 500m and will definitely take your breath out of you along with serious leg burn. Guaranteed smile of a run and you will want to do it over and over again. If you get tired of the bumps you can do tree runs either side. Deep snow again a guaranteed smile and you will want to go do it again. When I was there I skied straight onto the chair for another go at this epic run, with epic views and awesome snow.
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Maiko was definitely worthy of a day trip whilst we were in the Yuzawa area. We visited on a Monday and the place was almost deserted with the exception of the obligatory school groups in the beginners’ areas. We saw the masses and masses of snowboard and skis for rent in the day centre, which gave us a bit of an idea about what the crowds must be like on some weekends.

We visited during early season of a bad snow year so the off-piste was very twiggy, but we could see the potential of the place, and there was no competition for the powder.

This is a fabulous place for beginners and also a good spot for powder hounds trying to escape the conservative Yuzawa ski resorts that ban off-piste skiing.

See the Maiko ski resort overview page for information on the pros and cons of Maiko, and also see the Japanese ski resorts ratings to see how we rate Maiko versus other ski area.
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