25 Dec Matsunoyama Onsen Ski Area

While we are waiting for the snow to arrive (hopefully not long now) we are planning some of our adventures for this winter. The great thing about living here is that there are plenty of different ski areas to explore. There are several in the region that are really well known and attract the crowds, but there are also plenty off-the-radar that have their own attractions.

One of the ones we are determined to cross off our list this year is Matsunoyama Onsen Ski Area.

Matsunoyama Onsen is a small town deep in the mountains that sits on the border between Nagano and Niigata prefectures. It is well known for its medicinal hot springs, has some top quality Japanese ryokan, and some really unusual festivals. The area gets deep snow, boasting really light powder snow, that is supposedly really different to other resorts around. Very keen to check this out. The resort keep their snow report updated with how much snow has fallen, and they keep one steep run ungroomed for powder enjoyment. Again, very keen to check this out.

For a small resort there is plenty going on with ski cross races, airboarding events, mogul competitions and races.

A long day out on the slopes testing this light powder, followed by a soak in that famous healing onsen sounds like a pretty good day off to me!