Closest to town Best view! Sapporo Mt. Moiwa-yama Ski Resort in Hokkaido

Only twenty-minute drive from the center of Sapporo Hokkaido, there is “Sapporo Mt. Moiwa-yama Ski Resort.” This has been a popular ski resort since the opening in 1960 as the closest ski resort to the center of Sapporo.

After sightseeing in Sapporo, how about getting out of the busy city and enjoying a ski slope cruising with “the view of the entire Sapporo”? The easy accessibility is one of the great things about this ski resort.
Speaking of Mt. Moiwa-yama, the first thing that comes to mind is the beautiful night view from the summit. It is chosen as one of the “new top three major night views of Japan.” The resort is open for night skiing, too. You can enjoy the beautiful night view while you ski.

Exhilarating cruising while looking over downtown Sapporo!

“Sapporo Mt. Moiwa-yama Ski Resort” in Hokkaido stretches on the slope of Mt. Moiwa-yama at 531 meter elevation (1742 feet). There are 4 ski lifts and 10 different courses that are great for beginners to advanced skiers. This is a “skiers only” resort which is very rare in Hokkaido. Sorry, snowboarding is not allowed here.

This is not a huge ski resort, but it has been the locals’ favorite because it offers a superb view of Sapporo!
Cruising and enjoying the view of Sapporo with the population of 1.94 million people is the best part of the Mt. Moiwa-yama ski resort.

You don’t want to miss the “scenic road course (Moiwasan Kanko Expy).”
As the name shows, this course is an actual road and used as a scenic drive up to the hillside station of the Mt. Moiwa Observatory during the summer! You’ll enjoy the gentle and long slope of 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) and the view at the same time.

Great time with ski and night view

Being able to enjoy skiing and the view over Sapporo during the day means that you can also ski and enjoy the night view at night! The Mt. Moiwa-yama Ski Resort is opens until 9:00p.m., you’ll have plenty of time to get ski fully satisfied.

Turn around when you are on the ski lift or stop to look on your way down the slope, what comes into sight is the Sapporo night view that is selected as one of the “new top three major night views of Japan”! The cruising down the slope with the night view so close is something very special.
How about adding skiing at this ski resort to your Sapporo sightseeing plan? You can kill two birds with one stone because you can enjoy the night view, too.

In-between your daily sightseeing! Great accessibility.

The Mt. Moiwa-yama Ski Resort is the closest ski resort to the center of Sapporo.
You can get there either by taxi or bus. It takes about twenty minutes by taxi and it costs about 2700yen. Or a Jotesu Bus from the Makomanai subway station takes you there for about six minutes and costs 250yen. Either way, it is very easy to get there.

This ski resort is great because it is easy to add to your Sapporo sightseeing plan in winter. You can never have the great experience of skiing down, looking over Sapporo so close to you from any other ski resorts.

“Empty-handed” skiing possible!

No ski gear with you? Don’t worry. You can rent out all of your gear. You can ski “empty handed.” If you feel like skiing, just go straight!
The best rental plan is “Marugoto-tebura-ski pack (empty-handed everything ski pack)” and they only have twenty-five sets available per day. In this plan, you can get a full set of a ski lift ticket for five hours, ski gear, and ski wear for 6500yen only. The regular price will be 10500yen so it is definitely a great deal. When you visit Sapporo and decide “I want to ski, too!”, call them to reserve your set and go!
As for regular rental, you don’t need to reserve your set.
The ski set is from 3500yen and the wear set is from 3000yen.
“Marugoto-tebura-ski pack” ; twenty-five sets @day only- is doubtlessly a great deal, isn’t it?

How to get to the Moiwa summit station with an observation deck?

If you say “I want to have a view or a night view of Sapporo!”, take “Mt. Moiwa Ropeway” This is also a very popular sightseeing spot. For those who are not using the ski resort, you take the ropeway at “the Moiwa piedmont station” on the opposite side of the resort and head up to the top of the mountain.
You can take a streetcar to the Moiwa piedmont station, get off at “the Ropeway Iri-guchi (entry)” stop, and get on a free shuttle bus to the station.
Go to the hillside station from the piedmont station, get on a mini cable car “Mo-risu” car (risu –squirrel of Mt. “Mo”iwa) and go up to the summit station. There is an observation deck at the summit.

You can, of course, get to the summit station from the ski resort.　 From the get-off place of the second triple-lift, it is only 100meter (109 yards) away. It is right there! The ski resort users can go up to the summit station that has the observation deck. Skiing and sightseeing! Enjoy all!