Maiko Resort Ski & Snowboard Terrain
The Maiko Snow Resort is made up of two completely separate ski areas that have a big impenetrable river between them and are linked only via a chair lift, so don’t miss the last lift!
The “Maiko” side features the Maiko Kogen Hotel near the base, and the lower half is exclusively made up of beginner runs. Some that are so mellow that skiers might need to pole on a powder day whilst snowboarders might want to buddy up with a skier. Further up the hill are some easy intermediate runs plus a small steep zone.
The other side is called 'Nagamine' and has the Day Ski Centre at its base, plus the gondola. This side features weaving beginner runs, a handful of intermediate runs, and a few advanced runs in the Okusoechi area.
Like the other Yuzawa ski resorts, there are two faces to Maiko. Weekdays are quiet and serene, whilst weekends can be manic.
Check out the Maiko Ski Trail Map below.
Lifts
Maiko has 10 ski lifts including one gondola, 4 quad chairs, and a mix of slow double chair lifts. Gondola queues can be very long on weekends and the Maiko Center Quad in front of the hotel can also be overly popular.
If you’re keen to get first tracks, there is a first tracks guided program where you can board the gondola early to get some fresh snow.
Maiko Snow
The powder tap is often turned on full bore at Maiko Ski Resort in snow country where it dumps about 10 to 12 metres of snow per winter. The elevation isn’t particularly high relative to some other major Niigata ski resorts and Nagano ski resorts (see the Niigata snow stats and the Nagano snow stats), so the powder can be a little on the heavy side. On the plus side for Maiko snow maintenance is that the gondola is almost north facing, and the back bowl is really more of a “side bowl” so it doesn’t bear the full brunt of the sun.
Beginner Skiing Maiko
Officially Maiko has 40% beginner trails, which for those learning the art of the snow-plough or falling leaf, is more than enough. The Maiko Kogen Hotel side of the hill is perfect for learning. The slopes are very mellow, nice and wide, and more experienced skiers and snowboarders don’t tend to ride there.
More confident beginners can head over to the other side of the Maiko Snow Resort. One green piste is wide, whilst the weaving trails are quite narrow.
Maiko Skiing for the Intermediate
Maiko has some nice, groomed trails of varying pitches that are OK for intermediates. The supposed “advanced” runs are not particularly steep, and whilst they may not be groomed, confident intermediates should also be able to practise on these runs.
Advanced Skiing On-Piste
Like many Japanese ski resorts, advanced piste runs are not the forte of Maiko Ski Resort. There are only 3 black runs and a couple of them are very short, and none of them precipitous or challenging. One black run in the Nagamine area has a maximum gradient of 24 degrees and an average of only 14 degrees - what a joke! The steepest, Champion course, only reaches a maximum of 32 degrees and has an average of 30 degrees.
Off-Piste Skiing & Riding
Powder hounds often overlook the Maiko Resort because it has such nice beginner terrain, so competition for the powder can be minimal on weekdays.
Maiko has several good spots for tree skiing. There are 3 designated tree zones on either side of the top Okusoechi course. There is also an area on the Maiko side. You need to register at the day base or Café Idataki for this and wear an armband and helmet. The areas are small and not steep, so they’re ideal for those relatively new to powder skiing.
Elsewhere are zones with deciduous trees that are mostly widely spaced, whilst the evergreens tend to be tighter. There are some nice trees off the quad D chair but stay skiers’ left towards the bottom unless you want to be jumping dam fences into ponds.
The best off-piste zone is the Zone FWT Qualifier. It’s north facing and has widely spaced trees and tasty terrain. Unfortunately the pitchy part is over way too quickly.
Backcountry
In addition to some sidecountry in the aforementioned area, there is some good shady backcountry terrain if you skin up the ridge to the peak of Mt Iishi with egress points into the ski area if you have some route-finding abilities. Over the back of the peak is the Iwappara Ski Resort.
There is a local backcountry guiding outfit, although group numbers may be rather large as is often the case with Japanese guiding outfits.