Zao Onsen Ski Resort is above Zao Onsen, a hot spring town on Mount Zao in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture. The summit is 1,661 metres, at Jizo Sancho station on the Zao Ropeway, and the base is 780 metres in the town, for 881 metres (2,890 feet) of vertical. It has 305 hectares, about 754 acres, with 14 slopes and 12 linking courses, rated 40% beginner, 40% intermediate and 20% advanced. Three ropeways, the Zao Sky Cable and 25 chairlifts serve the mountain. The longest run is about 10 km, and the steepest pitch is the 38-degree Yokokura Wall.
Zao is known for its snow monsters, or juhyo: firs on the upper mountain that freezing winds coat in rime. The Juhyogen Course, the longest on the mountain, starts at Jizo Sancho station and runs through about 2 km of snow monsters before heading down to the town. The Uwanodai Slope was Zao’s first ski slope, and its lift was the second built in Japan. The season usually runs from December to late April, and the upper slopes can stay open into early May.
The Zao lift association runs all the cams. Juhyo Kogen Station, at 1,331 metres, is the highest. It shows the Zao Ropeway’s middle station, where you change to the summit line for the snow monsters. Yokokura Slope, Chuo Slope, Sunrise Slope and Uwanodai Slope show the main slopes lower down. Uwanodai is next to the town and near the 780-metre base, so comparing it with Juhyo Kogen shows how much the snow changes with height.
Four cams look at car parks: Uwanodai No.1, Chuo Ropeway No.1, Zao Ropeway Yokokura and Omori, the biggest, with 600 spaces. They show whether the lots are filling before you drive up.
From Tokyo by car, take the Tohoku Expressway to Fukushima JCT, then the Tohoku-Chuo Expressway to Yamagata Kaminoyama IC and Prefectural Road 21, about 4 hours 10 minutes from Kawaguchi JCT. From Sendai, take the Yamagata Expressway to Yamagata Zao IC and the Nishi-Zao Kogen Line, about 51 minutes from Murata JCT. By train, the Yamagata Shinkansen reaches Yamagata Station from Tokyo in as little as 2 hours 22 minutes, and the bus to the Zao Onsen bus terminal takes about 40 minutes.
Yamagata Airport (GAJ) is about 46 minutes away by car, or about 1 hour on the airport liner bus. From Sendai Airport (SDJ), it’s about 2 hours by rail through Sendai and Yamagata stations.
Yamagata Prefectural Police say that driving on snowy or icy roads without winter tires or other anti-slip measures breaks the law.
Zao Onsen is on the Ikon Pass with 7 days and the Ikon Base Pass with 5. It isn’t on the Epic or Indy Pass.