Tenzan Resort
The last ski area in Saga Prefecture on Kyushu, an hour from Fukuoka, whose operator went bankrupt in January 2022 after warm winters and the pandemic; its two lifts are still standing.
- Region
- Saga Prefecture
- Country
- Japan
- Status
- abandoned
- Year opened
- 1989
- Year closed
- 2019
- Reason for closure
- Warm winters and the collapse in visitors during the pandemic. The area last operated in 2019 and the operating company filed for bankruptcy on 6 January 2022, at which point the closure became permanent.
History
Tenzan Resort (天山リゾートスキー場) opened in December 1989 on the northern slopes of Mount Tenzan in Saga City, on Kyushu - about an hour from Fukuoka and one of the most southerly lift-served ski areas in Japan. It was small and heavily dependent on machine-made snow: two pair lifts of 600 m and 980 m, the longer one with a mid-station, serving two courses with a longest run of 1,000 m and a steepest pitch of 22 degrees, from a 720 m base to a 900 m top for 180 m of vertical. Warm winters made snowmaking ever more expensive and the pandemic removed what visitors were left. It last operated in 2019, and on 6 January 2022 the operating company filed for bankruptcy, making the closure final. The lifts remain in place. With its loss there are no operating ski areas in Saga Prefecture at all. Course names are not compiled in accessible sources; the coordinates mark Mount Tenzan.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 980 m pair lift with a mid-station; still in place after closure | |
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 600 m pair lift; still in place after closure |
Sources and further reading
More in Japan
Location
33.3389, 130.1429