Oeyama
A Kyoto Prefecture area near the Sea of Japan, open since 1953, whose final season consisted of a single day of skiing; solar panels now cover the site and the chairlifts still stand.
- Region
- Kyoto Prefecture
- Country
- Japan
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1953
- Year closed
- 2016
- Reason for closure
- An increasing struggle with snowfall, with seasons becoming much shorter and less reliable, combined with ageing lifts that needed maintenance. In its final season the area managed to open on just one day, 23 January, drawing fewer than 2,000 visitors.
History
Oeyama (大江山スキー場) lay on Mount Oe, south of central Miyazu City in northern Kyoto Prefecture near the Sea of Japan - a mountain better known in Japanese folklore as the lair of the demon Shuten-doji. The ski area opened in 1953 and ran two single chairlifts of 664 m and 384 m over six courses, with a longest run of 800 m, a steepest pitch of 35 degrees and 150 m of vertical between a 400 m base and a 550 m top. Its ending is recorded with unusual precision: in the final season it was able to open on exactly one day, 23 January, and drew fewer than 2,000 visitors across the winter. Shorter and less dependable seasons, together with lifts that needed money spent on them, closed it in 2016. The lift structures were still standing in 2019 and the site now carries solar panels - the same conversion recorded at Oana in Gunma and increasingly common on closed Japanese ski ground. Course names are not compiled in accessible sources; the coordinates mark Mount Oe.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 664 m; still standing as of 2019 | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Single | 384 m; still standing as of 2019 |
Sources and further reading
More in Japan
Location
35.4535, 135.1067