Family Snow Park Bandai x2
A Mount Bandai area that went bankrupt in 2002, was brought back in 2008, and then failed to reopen after the covid winter of 2021-22; at least two of its lifts are still standing.
- Region
- Fukushima Prefecture
- Country
- Japan
- Status
- abandoned
- Year closed
- 2021
- Reason for closure
- Two separate endings. The original Bandai Kokusai closed in 2002 when the operating company went bankrupt. It reopened in 2008 as Family Snow Park Bandai x2 and last operated in the 2020-21 season, then stayed shut for the whole of 2021-22 because of the coronavirus situation and has not reopened since.
History
Family Snow Park Bandai x2 (ファミリースノーパークばんだいx2) occupied the eastern slopes of Mount Bandai in Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture, and spent most of its life under the earlier name Bandai Kokusai (磐梯国際スキー場). At its fullest it ran five lifts - four pair lifts of 650, 630, 450 and 450 m and a 630 m single chair - over seven courses, with a longest run of 2,000 m, a steepest pitch of 35 degrees and 390 m of vertical between a 660 m base and a 1,050 m top, the terrain rated 60 per cent beginner. It has died twice. The operating company went bankrupt in 2002 and the area closed; it was brought back in 2008 under the Family Snow Park name and ran for another dozen seasons, the last of them 2020-21. It then stayed shut for the whole of 2021-22 because of coronavirus and has never reopened, with no rumours of a revival. At least two of the lifts remain in place. Its original opening year is unconfirmed and course names are not compiled in accessible sources; the coordinates mark Inawashiro Town and should be treated as approximate, the area lying north of the town centre on the mountain.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 650 m; one of four pair lifts at the peak of operations as Bandai Kokusai. At least two of the area lifts remain in place | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 630 m | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 450 m | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 450 m | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 630 m |
Sources and further reading
More in Japan
Location
37.5578, 140.1046