Racing Camp Nobeyama Closed

Racing Camp Nobeyama was a ski area on the north face of Mount Meshimori on the Nobeyama plateau in Minamimaki, Nagano, unusual in being aimed mainly at alpine racers. It opened in 1984 as Nobeyama Ski Area and took its later name around 2004. Six runs dropped 200 m from about 1,610 m, mostly intermediate and advanced with pitches up to 32 degrees, and looked across to the Yatsugatake peaks. Natural snowfall is light here, so the slopes relied heavily on snowmaking in the cold plateau air; rising fuel costs and falling skier numbers stopped operations after December 2008, and the area was listed as abolished by 2010. The lifts have been removed and the gated entrance sign still stands.