We visited on a Sunday and the car park was full but the ski area was quiet. Everyone seemed to be sitting in the cafeteria, possibly because it was snowing heavily. It was mid morning and there was fresh snow on the groomers which was fun, especially as a couple of the runs had a little bit of pitch. Off-piste there was a hard crust underneath the powder and various tracks in the trees. It was easy enough to find fresh tracks, although in the off-piste zones the fossicking to fall-line powder ratio wasn’t to our liking. The sidecountry provided more flow and playful meandering terrain (for the off-piste rating we’ve included both the off-piste and sidecountry). The snow base was at 90cm, so just a little under average, and with more snow it’s likely that the gullies would have been filled in a bit more and the skiing better.

We didn’t put in a full day because the lift rides became a bit tedious. Despite them running the fixed grip chair at a decent speed, it just seemed to go on forever as it passed over a few flat areas.

The onsen was beckoning. The rotenburo was particularly lovely, with a small rock pool overlooking the snow that was quickly becoming deeper.

You can see how we rated Pirika in more detail on our Hokkaido ski resort ratings.
See our video here