Araiyama Ski Area Closed
Official name 荒井山スキー場
Hokkaido
Closed in 2000
Araiyama Ski Area was a city ski hill on a low rise of about 185 m in Miyanomori, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, just east of Mt. Okura. It became well known after Prince Chichibu skied here in 1928 and a ski jump was built the following year, and before the war it was already a floodlit night-practice slope. In 1956 it got the first chairlift in Hokkaido built for the general public. As larger resorts opened in the suburbs, visitors fell away and the slope closed in 2000. The hill is now a park with a memorial stone, and the Araiyama jump hills, Sapporo's oldest, are still used by young jumpers.
History of Araiyama Ski Area
- Closed
- 2000
- Operators
- Sapporo City (the city bought the hill after the war and made it a park)
- Why it closed
- Visitor numbers fell as larger ski resorts opened in the suburbs.
- The site today
- City park with a memorial stone; the Araiyama Schanze ski-jump hills (K55 and K25, renewed 2001-2003) are still used, mainly by school children.