We spent a day here in mid Feb 19 and had a blast in excellent snow conditions but stayed in-bounds so I haven't added a rating for off-piste (the tree skiing is meant to be epic). Deep base and consistent heavy snowfall prior to our arrival offered up great powder skiing conditions and almost nobody to share it with. We spotted 2 western people at the resort in the entire day, most of the (few) Japanese were younger skiers / boarders at the base of the mountain leaving the steeper / higher terrain virtually untouched for our enjoyment. The cable car shifts 166 people at a time every 20 mins to 1770m and you can take further lifts to go higher still to just under 2000m. We lapped powder run after powder run up the top and barely saw another human for the first few hours until we went exploring elsewhere around the resort. Ryuoo is a unique ski resort in that most buildings are ski to door so you virtually ski down through the village and into lunch / coffee / beer and ski back out to a lift, makes life very easy and great with the kids as you are not having to get on / off the snow. All of the accommodation is therefore ski to door too. Ryuoo Ski Park is the closest resort to the famous Snow Monkey park, a short drive to Yomase Onsen (beautiful outdoor onsen with amazing views) and the traditional onsen town at Shiba Onsen which is a must see. You can stay at Ryuoo and have all of that around you + 3 other resorts to ski as part of Kita-Shiga to mix things up. Ryuoo is also closest to the biggest skiable area in Japan at Shiga Kogan for an easy day trip to ski one of 19 different resorts on 1 pass. Nozawa Onsen and Madarao are also easy day trips 20-40 mins drive. Access from Tokyo is so fast via Iiyama train Station on the new Shinkansen line 101 mins direct and 20 min drive to Ryuoo. Highly recommend to get away from the better known resorts and experience something the Japanese have kept to themselves.
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Unfortunately we visited Ryuoo in an uncharacteristically bad season so we didn’t get to experience it in all its glory because there wasn’t enough snow under the ropeway, but we could certainly see the potential of this hill. It’s got great beginner terrain and the terrain under the ropeway looked fabulous – pitchy tree lines galore.

Ryuoo is probably best suited for day trips from neighbouring ski resorts or towns or as part of a multi-resort tour, rather than being a destination resort in its own right. That being said, it’s probably a nice spot to stay for a few days if you want to get away from the gaijin.
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Ryuoo is one of those hidden gems. One of the few places in Honshu that has a ropeway to move a lot of people if needed. Not that this is the case as there is no competition from westerners at this resort. Mountain is broken into three areas. The bottom and top ski areas are great for beginners and intermediate skiers and boarder. The middle section which is serviced by the ropeway is the advanced powderhounds playground with some excellent vertical and wicked tree runs. The locals really make the few westerners that frequent this resort feel at home and one gets the feelings that they would love to see more people from the around the world come and experience their little slice of paradise. Can't wait to get back there.
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