We stayed in neighbouring Kumanoyu in the second of week of January and had 3 powder days here. This was after 5 days at Okushiga Kogen, which we also loved. But purely for fresh snow and lack of competition, Yokoteyama and Kumanoyu were fantastic.

*I was unable to add a review on Kumanyu on the Powder Hounds link for that field so I have added in details about it here.

I’d recommend this spot (especially Kumanoyu) to any confident intermediate who wants to get into some lift accessed powder. If it doesn’t snow or you’re an expert then it might not be the spot for you.

Yokoteyama is mainly one small cat track from the top before opening out into a very wide and shallow green. There are a couple of black detour options and some small sections for jumping into powder (though we did see what looked like some very adventurous tracks going into the side country). As Powder Hounds says, if you're anything above a beginner you'll probably be bored by the pistes within a few hours.

The main reason to ski here if you're an intermediate is for Shibutoge after it's snowed.

Shibutoge is only one lift but has two ungroomed runs with a nice pitch for those still getting used to powder. We lapped fresh snow there for our first morning with about 6 other people. It was super cold though (-25 with wind chill factored) and we only lasted about an hour before retreating to the gratin cafe for a massive feed.

Unfortunately my snowboarding friend didn't appreciate the traverse to get here from the top of the Yokoteyama lifts. This meant we didn't go back for another crack the next three days, but we had an absolute ball in the fresh snow over at Kumanoyu, which we thought was perfect for us intermediates still trying to conquer riding powder.

If you have some beginners with you they’ll enjoy the mellow lower slopes at Kumanoyu and the chance to go through some trees. There must be a reason they send every local school here. Yokoteyama was slightly less beginner friendly.

Both ski fields were uncrowded the entire time. As in zero queues (the school groups leave a side of the lift access open for you to go through). If the snow gods smile on you this is a great spot for intermediates to visit. And if not it’s easy to get the bus up to the rest of Shiga Kogen. We had four days here and found that about right given we had plenty of snow. One of those days we bussed up to the northern areas of Shiga Kogen.

The outdoor onsen that anyone can hire at Shiga Kogen Lodge was also a treat in the snow.

There’s nothing to do at night other than have a few drinks and play cards in your lodge or hotel. I watched the first three Die Hards while I was here. I rank them from best to worst - 3, 1, 2.
See our video here