Hachimantai Shimokura – Japan’s World Record Holding Ski Resort You’ve Never Heard Of

October 20th, 2023
The typical amount of people you’ll share a run with at Hachimantai Shimokura…. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

Mountainwatch | Matt Wiseman

If for some reason you’re incredibly well versed in 2011 Guinness World Records, you would have heard of Japan’s Hachimantai Shimokura and Panorama ski resort. It hosted the world record ski parade – downhill skiing conga line if you will – on February 27, 2011 with a total 232 skiers.

If you’re like the rest of us, Hachimantai is yet to penetrate the Western ski world’s consciousness and make it onto skiing itineraries, being one of Japan’s countless peripheral resorts, hidden in the metaphorical shadow of nearby Appi Kogen and beneath the real-life shadow of 2043m Mt. Iwate.

I visited Hachimantai in February 2020 during the now notorious “worst season in decades” winter of 2019/20  and while ski parades were sadly lacking, the snow was not – at least when contrasted with the rest of Japan – and I discovered two resorts that could cater to all-comers.

 

I had to wait at the bottom of the lift for someone to show up and hop on a chair in front of me, just so I’d have something to take a photo of. Except for this solitary snowboarder, the lift was desolate for 20 chairs in front and behind. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

Off the back of a week in freeride focused Hakkoda, Hachimantai was admittedly a very different animal. Gone was the powder free-for-all, replaced with an orderly off-piste gate and registration system more typical of Japan’s burgeoning official off-piste ski experience.

As you would expect from the reigning ski parade record holder, the Panorama ski area, offers up some very sedate slopes, and I mean very sedate…

 

Left to right, Panorama ski area is separated by a 10-minute free shuttle bus from Shimokura ski area.

 

An aerial view of Hachimantai. Photo:: Hachimantai Resort and Spa

Panorama boasts wide, flat and well-groomed slopes perfect for beginners but beyond that level of skill you’ll be left wanting. For reference the steepest point of the ‘steepest’ run is only 20 degrees, with the resorts average around 12 degrees. All up Panorama has 7 courses and 4 lifts servicing the 460m of vertical. While this terrain is negligible to most, fanning out above the resort is a peak boasting considerably more vert and some very attractive tree skiing if you have the touring know-how to access it.

 

Mt Iwate omniscient above Hachmantai. The lino-cut scribbles of white within the birch trees are the humble runs of Panorama, the ski touring terrain above needs no more explanation. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

 

One of Panorama’s ‘steeper’ runs. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

 

The runs at Panorama might be negligible, but snowflakes still fall the size of napkins. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

For the rest of us, Hachimantai Shimokura ski area is where you want to be on any jaunt through the Iwate prefecture. With still enough variety and low incline slopes for the whole family, there’s some decent gradient here, up to 37 degrees and better yet, the 2019 season saw the introduction of three new designated off-piste tree runs.

The first powder day of my stay in Hachimantai Shimokura coincided with a national public holiday celebrating the Emperor’s birthday, meaning everyone had a long weekend and many locals where intent on spending it skiing. However, from first lift to last, the most people encountered in a line was six, so it was more than possible to find fresh tracks all day if so inclined – most of the locals were not.

I spent the day lapping the same runs and sharing them only with the stoic old growth beech and birch trees.

 

Only my tracks for company in the beautiful Towada-Hachimantia National Park. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

One of the most persuasive reasons to visit Hachimantai is its sheer reliability. While official annual snowfall stats are hard to come by, 7-10 metres is no stretch of the imagination. You can couple the favourable north to northeast aspect for snowfall with a tendency to stay open despite any wind.

Where other Japanese resorts will suspend operations – sometimes at the drop of a hat – Hachimantai will rarely, if ever. In fact, the official lift operating rate from the last four seasons is an astonishing 96.8%. A trait I can personally attest to on my last day there, where winds where approaching 80-100km/hr+ in the valley but felt relatively protected on the safety bar-less double chair where I spent lapping the day away.

 

You don’t feel much more in tune with a ski resort than by riding an old double or single chair into its upper abyss. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

 

Powder flows on tap in the trees beside the groomers. Photo:: Matt Wiseman

In this regard, Hachimantai Shimokura is perfect for a single day strike mission from the likes of nearby Appi Kogen (18km away), as it’s guaranteed to be open even when Appi’s top gondola suspends operations, or better, as part of a larger Iwate resort-hopping road trip. Indeed, there’s enough terrain to keep you entertained in resort for 2 days and plenty more if interested in joining a backcountry tour or spending a day with Hachimantai cat skiing.

Other ski resorts nearby include (distance from Hachimantai):

Appi Kogen – 18km north

Shizukuishi – 45km south

Iwate Kogen – 38km south

Amihari Onsen – 40km south

Geto Kogen – 100km south

 

Alternatively, one could base oneself in the city of Morioka

Hachimantai Shimokura – 41km northwest

Appi Kogen – 47km northwest

Shizukuishi – 28km northwest

Iwate Kogen – 28km northwest

Amihari Onsen – 31km northwest

Tazawako (in Akita prefecture) – 53km west

Geto Kogen – 75km southwest

For more on Hachimantai; how to get there, accommodation options and non-skiing activities see our Hachimantai resort page.