Japan's widest beginner piste, plus the Tsugaike DBD — lift-served backcountry zone on the top of the mountain. Rare resort that works for a first-timer AND a freerider.
Live conditions
Off-seasonThe mountain is resting.
Next season
Opens late November
Current temp 10°C, wind 2 km/h. We’ll resume the daily report once snowfall picks up.
Forecast data via Open-Meteo. Refreshes hourly. Always verify with the resort before driving up.
Why Tsugaike Kogen
Japan's widest beginner piste, plus the Tsugaike DBD — lift-served backcountry zone on the top of the mountain. Rare resort that works for a first-timer AND a freerider.
Tsugaike Kogen is a ski resort in Nagano, with 14 marked runs and 904m of vertical. It averages around 12m of snowfall a season, over terrain that suits beginners. Expect well-groomed pistes and a large interconnected mountain.
Terrain in detail
BalancedMixed terrain — solid intermediate base with sharper lines for advanced skiers. Difficulty, powder character, and the stats that matter on the mountain itself.
Hardcore index
41
Mixed terrain — solid intermediate base with sharper lines for advanced skiers.
From terrain split, run profile, vertical drop, expert features.
Powder profile
Inland alpine — variable depending on storm direction.
Drier on cold storms, deeper when the Sea of Japan fires.
12
m
per season
Frequent deep days through midwinter
Expert runs
3 of 14
Estimated from advanced terrain split.
Vertical drop
904m
Big-mountain vertical.
Steepest pitch
—
Pitch not published.
Backcountry gates
None
In-bounds skiing only.
Tree skiing
Limited
Mostly groomed terrain.
Moguls
Few
Mostly cord and powder.
Best for
Terrain
Getting there
From airport
3 hours by Shinkansen + bus from Tokyo
Train / bus
Shuttle from JR Nagano Shinkansen Station 3 hours by Shinkansen + bus from Tokyo
Shuttle from JR Nagano Shinkansen Station 3 hours by Shinkansen + bus from Tokyo
Photo: Ski Mania / Public domain · Source
Curated guides covering Tsugaike Kogen and the rest of Nagano.
More resorts in Nagano
destination resort
Hakuba's crown jewel and 1998 Olympic venue, offering Japan's most challenging piste skiing with epic vertical.
resort town
Two interconnected Hakuba faces — 47's terrain park and Goryu's wide groomers under one lift ticket, plus the valley's best night-skiing.
powder-focused
The snowiest resort in Hakuba Valley and Japan's finest steep in-bounds tree skiing — the Hotel Green Plaza at the base makes it the most underrated ski-in option in the country.
resort town
Known for the Mountain Harbor — a cliff-edge gondola deck looking straight at the Northern Alps — plus wide intermediate terrain and a genuine Japanese village at the base.
