Takaobara Ski Area Closed

Takaobara Ski Area was a small hill just behind Dogoyama Station on the JR Geibi Line in Saijo, Shobara, in northern Hiroshima. It opened in January 1953 with a single run on a slope of about 50 m vertical. Being a short walk from the platform, it was once busy enough that ski trains stopped there in winter and the otherwise unstaffed station was manned during the ski season. In its last years it was a modest slope served by one rope tow, and it closed in 2011. The rope tow and base building were removed in 2015, and a new highway, the Kofu-Miyoshi Road, now crosses the old base area.