Seki Onsen Ski Resort
Seki Onsen is one of the
Myoko ski resorts, and an off-piste haven for powder hounds. Seki Onsen Ski Resort attracts a lot of hype for its steep tree skiing and the masses of snow that bestow the ski area; somewhere in the realm of 14.5 to 16 metres on average per season! In some respects, Seki lives up to the hype, but in others it just doesn’t stack up. It’s definitely steep and deep, but it's also rather petite!
Seki Onsen is an ideal spot to visit for a powder day or two from one of the other Myoko villages, or you can stay in the Seki Onsen village for a few days if you want to experience the real Japan and stay off the well beaten tourist path. Otherwise Seki is ideal as part of a
multi-day tour.
Seki Onsen isn’t really a “resort”. It’s a little ski area that is family owned and has only a handful of staff, very limited infrastructure, and no bells or whistles (or ski patrollers with a whistle for that matter).
Pros and Cons of Seki Onsen Myoko
Pros
- Colossal amounts of snow fall from the heavens at Seki.
- Much of the terrain is steep and the treed areas are varied.
- Lift tickets are very inexpensive (although you don’t get much for your handful of yen).
- The resort has a liberal off-piste policy so you won’t have a ski patroller chasing you.
- The vibe of this long running family run business is beautiful, it’s delightfully non-commercialised, and a pleasant step back in time.
Cons
- Seki is fabulous; shame it’s so tiny and the lift-accessed terrain gets tracked out quickly.
- The ski area is rather boring if it hasn’t snowed recently.
- The lifts are historic and it can take eons for them to be dug out on a powder day.
- On a weekend powder day, the lift queues can be very tiresome.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- The village of Seki Onsen doesn’t cater particularly well to gaijin, so it’s a fabulous place to get away from the gaijin.
- Seki is a no frills ski resort with limited infrastructure and negligible grooming. This is awesome in some respects, but when they can’t get the lifts running first thing in the morning, it’s not so great.
Seki Ski and Snowboard Terrain
The Seki Onsen ski area is just a wee little thing and it doesn’t take long for the handful of locals to rip up the in-bounds powder. To give you an idea of the size, it officially has 4 runs (courses), 310 metres of vertical (900 – 1,210 metres), and 2 little lifts. The top lift is a single chair (fondly known as a suicide or pizza box chair) and it’s usually open, but not always. And on a big powder day it can take them a while to open the bottom chair considering the massive snow depths and the lack of sophisticated machinery to dig the chairs out.
With official trail stats of 20% beginner, 50% intermediate and 30% advanced, you could be sucked into thinking this is a good place to bring the family or some learners, but think again! There’s really only one intermediate run, and it may or may not be groomed. It may depend on whether the grooming man is working or not, and whether the grooming machine is working or not!
The terrain is characterised as being rather steep and it has a mixture of small open areas, tight trees and open glades.
Unlike many Honshu ski resorts, there’s no ban on off-piste skiing and snowboarding (lucky considering there are only 4 piste runs!) and you can venture a fair way from the lifts in search of freshies.
Seki Snow
Seki Onsen reputably gets 16 metres per season, and another source cites 14.5 metres. A ridiculous 19 metres of snow was reported for the 2021/22 season. Either way, it scores a lot of snow!
Where is Seki Onsen Japan?
Seki Onsen is considered one of the
Myoko Kogen ski resorts, and is located north of Nagano City in the Niigata Prefecture. Seki Onsen is a 30 minute drive northwest of Akakura (the main village of Myoko), and about 12km from the town of Myokokogen.
Seki Onsen Accommodation
The small Seki Onsen village is very cute and traditional and has ryokans and other Japanese style accommodation. And it’s not called Seki “Onsen” for nothing, with various onsen / hot springs in the ryokan.
Seki Onsen Accommodation
Facilities
The facilities and services at Seki are reasonably simplistic. There is a ski rental shop but don’t have your heart set on renting equipment from this century. The ski area also has a restaurant and eatery.
Most of the Seki Onsen ryokan and pensions have onsen, which can be used by day trippers for a small fee.