Niseko Weiss
A five-chair ski area on the eastern flank of Weisshorn in the Niseko range, run down to two lifts and closed in 2006; the chairs are still standing while snowcats work the old runs and a gondola link is talked about.
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Country
- Japan
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1971
- Year closed
- 2006
- Reason for closure
- The long decline in Japanese skier numbers after the early-1990s downturn. The area was progressively scaled back from five lifts to two and stopped operating in 2006, overshadowed by the four larger Niseko United resorts on the other side of the range.
History
Niseko Weiss (ニセコワイススキー場) opened in 1971 as the Kokusetsu Niseko Weisshorn Ski Area, on the eastern slopes of Weisshorn in Kutchan Town, on the far side of the Niseko range from the resorts that made the area famous. It ran five single chairlifts of 757 m, 733 m, 619 m, 563 m and 434 m over ten courses, from a 450 m base to a 925 m top for 475 m of vertical, with a longest run of 2,000 m and a steepest pitch of 29 degrees - gentle terrain, rated in a 2001 guidebook as 40 per cent beginner and 50 per cent intermediate. As Japanese skiing contracted after the bubble years the area was cut back to two lifts and then stopped altogether in 2006. The chairs were never taken down and the mountain has stayed in use: private snowcat operations run the old pistes, and the site appears regularly in videos and write-ups of abandoned Japanese ski resorts because the derelict lifts sit within sight of one of the busiest ski destinations in Asia. Revival has been discussed for years, including a gondola connection from Niseko HANAZONO and three new lifts, but no timeline has been confirmed. Individual lift and course names are not recorded in surviving documentation.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 757 m; one of five single chairlifts at peak operation, reduced to two before the 2006 closure. The lifts were left standing | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 733 m | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 619 m | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 563 m | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 434 m |
Sources and further reading
More in Japan
Location
42.9066, 140.6718