Shirakawa Kogen Ski Area Closed
Official name 白河高原スキー場 · Formerly 赤面山スキー場
Fukushima
Closed in 2000
Shirakawa Kogen Ski Area was a ski hill on the slopes of Mount Akazura in Nishigo village, Fukushima, originally called Akazurayama Ski Area. It was renamed when its lifts and centre house were rebuilt in the late 1990s, and it then had five lifts and six runs, the longest about 2.6 km, along with snowmaking and floodlights for night skiing. Reaching it meant using the Nasu-Kashi toll road, and with such poor access visitor numbers stayed low; it closed around 2000, only a few years after the renovation. The old site later served as a car park for hikers climbing Mount Akazura, but it has been closed to entry since 2021.
History of Shirakawa Kogen Ski Area
- Closed
- 2000
- Formerly
- 赤面山スキー場
- Why it closed
- Poor access via the Nasu-Kashi toll road (perceived high cost) kept visitors away; closed a few years after a late-1990s renovation.
- The site today
- Used for a time as parking for Mount Akazura hikers and as a snow-climbing route; the site has been closed to entry since 2021. Illegally dumped waste plastics (about 25 t) were removed by Fukushima Prefecture in September 2021.