Amihari Onsen Ski Resort
Amihari Onsen in Iwate near Shizukuishi is a little gem of an old-school ski area with simple facilities. Amihari Ski Resort is probably one of those Japanese ski areas that we’d all like to keep as a secret, but it feels like it’s on the brink of bankruptcy so a few more visitors wouldn’t go astray. You’d better get there soon just in case it becomes like some of those other Japanese ski resorts that have had a sad demise.
Amihari Onsen is not one of those Japanese ski resorts that has become westernised, so don’t expect modern apartments, English speaking staff, international ski school, or raging nightlife. Amihari Onsen is the perfect place for cultural immersion, powder immersion and onsen immersion – our favourite sort of Japan ski resort!
Pros and Cons of Amihari Onsen
Pros
- Like many other Iwate ski resorts, competition for the fresh powder is usually low.
- Barely anyone goes there so the lift queues are unlikely to be a problem.
- Lift tickets are cheap, especially on weekdays, and if you get a lift + lunch + onsen ticket, it’s a great deal.
- Accommodation provides good value for money.
- Amihari Onsen makes a great base to explore other Iwate ski resorts (and Tazawako), which are also good little spots for powder hounds.
Cons
- Amihari Ski Resort is only small and it really only packs a punch when there is no or negligible other powder chasers there. If there’s a tour group there, perhaps head next door or to another nearby ski resort.
- The chair lifts are rather antiquated (undoubtedly they’re not selling enough lift tickets to upgrade them!) and a bit on the slow side.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- Very little Engrish is spoken in these parts.
- Amihari Ski Resort provides access to some serious backcountry skiing on Mt Iwate and equally serious sidecountry skiing if you’re very avy savvy and good at sniffing out fumaroles.
- You’ll want to have a car to visit Amihari Onsen or be on a multi-day tour that includes transport.
- Besides skiing or snowboarding, onsen soaking, having dinner and a drink or two from the vending machine, and belting out tunes in the karaoke room, there is very little to do at Amihari Onsen.
Amihari Ski and Snowboard Terrain
Amihari Onsen is not a big ski resort with only 7 courses (officially) although we could only count 6 proper trails and 4 little inter-connections, which doesn’t add up to 7! The vertical of 710m (640 - 1,350m) is serviced by 3 almost consecutive pair lifts that are definitely not express chairs, but they don’t run at a snail’s pace either. A 4th chair is supernumerary and runs parallel to the lowest chair. Perhaps they run it when it’s busy, but we can’t imagine that would be ever!
Officially the trail stats are 50% beginner, 35% intermediate and 15% advanced, but it’s unlikely that you’d ever come to Amihari Onsen to spend your time just riding the piste. And as you’d expect for a Japanese ski resort, nothing is particularly steep, with a short section of a purple run (yes purple, not black!) hitting 37 degrees momentarily.
Off-piste skiing is prohibited but there are some treed areas far enough away from the lifts so as to not attract attraction. Don’t be an idiot and ride the lift line (like we saw a gaijin doofus do)! The off-piste tree skiing is rather mellow, but it has enough lumps and bumps to keep it interesting (keep an eye out for the evergreen tree wells).
The sidecountry to skiers’ right provides long shots and fun trees, whilst skiers’ left sidecountry is reasonably narrow without heading into the side of the big bowl. This magnificent bowl is functionally sidecountry/slackcountry (little skinning/hiking to get in and out) but it definitely skis like the serious backcountry and should only be contemplated by experienced BC riders (we saw the same doofus from above jumping off one of the cornices onto a very very wind loaded slope – luckily no one was below!). The unloaded left side of the bowl sits alongside
Iwate Kogen Ski Resort and a little hiking leads to steep gnarly chutes. The middle of the bowl is the least steep but is a mega terrain trap. Also take care of the fumaroles and the many glide cracks.
Amihari can also be used as a trail head for backcountry touring further up Mt Iwate.
Amihari Snow
This is a classically Japanese ski resort where they just take all the snow for granted and don’t waste any time measuring how much falls each season! The snowfall volumes are probably very good without quite being in the realm of
Geto Kogen or
Tazawako.
The aspect isn’t the best for snow quality, with the slopes mostly facing south, but there are enough trees to protect the snow in most places. On the plus side, the top elevation of Amihari Onsen is the highest of the Iwate ski resorts.
Where is Amihari Onsen?
Amihari Onsen ski resort sits on the southwestern flank of the dramatic Mt Iwate in the Towada-Hachimantai National Park. Amihari is situated in the NW part of Iwate Prefecture, 21km north of the town of Shizukuishi, and 31km northwest of Morioka City.
Amihari Onsen is adjacent to
Iwate Kogen Snow Park (not quite interconnected via the slopes) which is 3.3km by road to the east, whilst
Shizukuishi Ski Resort is 15km to the south.
It is possible to get to Amihari Onsen via a one hour bus ride from the Morioka train station west exit, although there are only 4 schedules per day and the bus drops you a few minutes walk from the hotel.
Having a
rental car is the easiest way to get to Amihari Onsen (the phone number for GPS navigation is 019-693-2211) and provides flexibility to get to the other
Iwate ski resorts. Or being on a multi-day
guided tour is an even easier way to get to Amihari.
Amihari Onsen Accommodation
Amihari Onsen Hotel (Kyukamura Iwate Amihari Onsen) is located slopeside at the base of the Amihari ski resort. Whilst you can't technically ski in and out of the hotel, it is very close to the main access lift. The hotel offers western or Japanese tatami rooms with private toilet, whilst bathing is at one of the onsen baths onsite (which include small open air baths). You can see our
Amihari Onsen Hotel review for more information.
Or about 2km from Amihari Onsen is the
Iwateyama Pension Village where you’ll find economical pensions that offer meals, or you could stay over at the
Shizukuishi Ski Resort.
Iwate Accommodation Listings
Ski Resort Facilities
The facilities at the day lodge at the base of the ski area are very low key. Bad coffee and snacks are available downstairs, whilst a large cafeteria upstairs sells very inexpensive ramen, curries and other typical ski resort food. There is a small retail shop and ski rentals are available, but they look like they’ve been borrowed from a retro day party. Ski lessons (every day) and snowboard lessons (only weekends) are on offer with Japanese speaking instructors, and apparently they also offer backcountry tours.