Kami-Sunagawa-dake International Ski Area
A derelict three-lift ski field built in a Hokkaido coal town at the height of the mining boom, abandoned in 2008 as the population collapsed from 15,000 to a few thousand.
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Country
- Japan
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1971
- Year closed
- 2008
- Reason for closure
- The collapse of the local coal industry and the depopulation that followed. The Mitsui Sunagawa colliery closed around 1987, and Kamisunagawa's population fell from about 15,000 when the ski area was built to roughly 3,500 by 2015, leaving no local market to support it.
History
The Kami-Sunagawa-dake International Ski Area (上砂川岳国際スキー場) opened in 1971 on the slopes of Mt Goryo-yama, immediately west of Sunagawa City and about two hours north-east of Sapporo. It was built for a coal town then holding around 15,000 people, and offered roughly 30 hectares of terrain and about 2,000 m of runs, from beginner to expert, served by three lifts of 730 m, 724 m and 754 m. The peak is only 596 m above sea level, so the vertical was modest even by Hokkaido standards. The Mitsui Sunagawa mine shut around 1987 and the town emptied out - about 10,000 residents by 1985, roughly 3,500 by 2015 - and the ski field finally ceased operating in 2008. The lower slopes are now leased privately and used for community events, while the upper mountain is left to backcountry skiers who tour the old runs and the ridge to Mt Goryo-yama. It is one of the most-cited examples of Japan's several hundred abandoned ski areas, the residue of a resort-building boom that peaked in the early 1990s.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift No. 1 | Chairlift - Single | 730 m; derelict since 2008 | |
| Lift No. 2 | Chairlift - Single | 724 m; derelict since 2008 | |
| Lift No. 3 | Chairlift - Single | 754 m; derelict since 2008 |
Sources and further reading
More in Japan
Location
43.4655, 142.0219