Oze Tokura skiing consists of adequate terrain for a powder hound for only a day of fun when the snow’s good because Snow Park Oze Tokura is a reasonably small ski resort. On the plus side, even on weekends when the Tokyo-ites arrive, you’ll likely have the off-piste to yourself because most visitors to Oze Tokura are snowboarders who just want to ride laps of the park features.

Lifts

The Oze Tokura lift fleet consists of 7 double chair lifts, of which 2 are detachable lifts, the no. 3 and the no. 5.

Lift Tickets

Lift passes for Oze Tokura are very well priced, especially on weekdays. Chicks on sticks and broads on boards should keep an eye out for ladies days which are super cheap, and also keep an eye out for 7-Elevens in Numata where discounted lift tickets are sold.

Oze Tokura Snow

Termed Gun-powder, the Gunma snow quality is generally very dry, however the snow doesn’t fall in the same abundance as many of the ski resorts in Nagano and Niigata that often have ridiculously deep snow packs. At Oze Tokura, the snow base is typically around 1.5 to 2 metres by the start of February.

The top elevation at Oze Tokura isn’t as high as some of the nearby ski resorts such as Oze Iwakura, Marunuma Kogen (which is almost 600 metres higher) or Oguna Hotaka, but at least it isn’t as low as the little Katashina Kogen which wasn’t aptly named. Snow quality varies significantly across the Tokura ski resort because there are so many aspects to play with. Course #1 is north facing whilst most runs are west to SW facing, whilst some of the easy tree runs have a northwest aspect.

Oze Tokura Skiing for the Beginner

Lesson Slope (#5) is a dedicated beginner run which has its own chair lift. Faster skiers and snowboarders don’t commute through this area unless they’ve been sidecountry, so beginners can learn in complete peace.

The Romance Course (#2) is another beginner run and it’s nice and long. We found it particularly terrifying because on the weekend it was packed with lots of beginner snowboarders that hadn’t yet learned the etiquette of looking uphill before starting off or they’d suddenly cut from one side of the run to the other. Further down the run were some terrain features but they were not roped off or the like to warn you that you’re about to enter a terrain park.

Intermediate Riding & Skiing Oze Tokura

Intermediates may get bored pretty quickly with the terrain because there are only a few trails to choose from. Strong intermediates can practise off-piste skills on #1 trail and the side of #9, whilst the advanced trail #7 is a steep-ish groomer that can offer some speedy fun. On weekends, it’s often used for race training.

Advanced Skiing On-Piste

Like a lot of small Japanese ski resorts, Oze Tokura is snoringly boring for advanced riders that want to remain on-piste. There are only 2 trails to choose from, and the #8 only reaches a maximum of 32 degrees.

Terrain Parks & Pipe

The big half pipe used to be the shining glory of Snow Park Oze Tokura, but it’s no longer maintained possibly due a lack of yen or classic Japanese risk aversion. All that remains is the summer grooming remnants of a pipe and a picture of it on the trail map.

Nevertheless, Oze Tokura is still popular with park riders but it would be good if they could put their risk avoidance culture to better use. Some of the park features just sneak up on you when you’re zooming down a groomer, those learning to ride features run into others on the groomed run, and the massive kicker near the base sits in a daft spot right where everyone’s turning in towards the lift and it’s not roped off.

Off Piste & Sidecountry Skiing and Riding

The zone between the no. 5 and 6 lifts provides some lovely tree skiing, and it looks like it’s been partially gladed due to the presence of stumps when the snow base is low. There are a few gullies that might have an open creek but otherwise it’s really easy to navigate and exit. Trees off the #7 run are steeper and very delicious but may be fenced off. Trees under the no. 3 lift are also nice and require a little more course plotting to not get gullied out. You can push out skiers right a fair way to egress along the Fujimitoge Pass road.