surf-Forecastsurf-Forecastmountain-Forecastmountain-Forecasttide-Forecasttide-Forecastweather-Forecastweather-Forecast
Ski Japan - Niigata

Seki Onsen Resort Reviews


Seki Onsen Forecasts
Users Viewed Next:(Advanced)
Users Viewed Next:(Live)
Popular Seki Onsen Pages
Users Viewed Next:(Maps)
Users Viewed Next:(Resort Info)
Popular Seki Onsen Pages

Visitor reviews for Seki Onsen Ski Resort

Seki Onsen Ratings

Overall: 4.7. Based on 2 votes and 3 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 5.0

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Seki Onsen is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 5.0

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Seki Onsen has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 5.0

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 3.0

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.0

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Seki Onsen

Public Transport: 5.0

  • There are no buses or taxis to Seki Onsen
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 5.0

  • No places to stay in/near Seki Onsen
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 5.0

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 5.0

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Seki Onsen

Ski in/Ski out: 5.0

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 5.0

  • There are no child care facilities at Seki Onsen
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snow Grooming: 3.0

  • There are no snow groomers at Seki Onsen
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Seki Onsen are groomed daily

Shelter: 5.0

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Seki Onsen is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 5.0

  • If snow conditions are poor at Seki Onsen, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 5.0

  • Seki Onsen usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.0

  • The staff at Seki Onsen are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Seki Onsen are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 5.0

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 5.0

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 5.0

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 2.0

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 5.0

  • No intermediate terrain at Seki Onsen
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 5.0

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 5.0

  • Not even a kicker at Seki Onsen
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 5.0

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Seki Onsen
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 5.0

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Seki Onsen has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 5.0

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 5.0

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 5.0

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 5.0

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 5.0

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 5.0

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 5.0

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 5.0

  • Overall, Seki Onsen is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 5.0

  • Overall, Seki Onsen is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 34 ratings

Latest
Oldest
Most useful
Top rated
Lowest rated
February 04, 2026
Rob Davies from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Little Seki Onsen has earned a cult-like status among ambitious and fearless snowboarders and skiers, featuring in many photo-shoots of Japan at its best and lately in any number of Instagram reels. Travis Rice was here just a few days before us and if it is good enough for him, then it is good enough for anyone. The good: Still family-run and incredibly authentic. The snowy Japan Sea end of the Mykoko Massif, so like Cortina in Hakuba, a snow magnet which generally ranks among the snowiest places on earth. Good value day passes with a 1000 Yen towards lunch or if you prefer not to waste your slope time, just put it towards a well earned beer at the end of the say. Get there before 3pm for food. The terrain is epic for such a small area. Steep for Japan and varied too, from steep open bowls to skate runs and pillow lines through the forest. The Bad: Growing popularity means long queues on fresh snow days, which are very frequent. First at the ticket office, then at the bottom chair, then at the top chair, which generally opens at 11am, and then in the cafe on the slopes between about noon to 2pm. That top lift single chair is low capacity and generally ony open for an hour or so per day. Officially, most of the good stuff is out of bounds. Eg the huge valley on skiers left with multiple steep entry points (some are overhanging, so choose wisely). On skiers right, the wooded valley "collector" exits close to the road just above the village. It splits in two where it emerges from the forest and it is far from obvious that straight on is going to dump you in a 5m deep vertical hole! On skiers left, the big open valley ends in a scootch track that can need a bit of boot-packing. You emerge under a chair a third of a the way down a green run and it will make perfect sense to head down and take that chair back to the Seki Base. Problem is, this is not covered by your Seki pass so make sure you have 300 Yen cash for a single ticket. You won't save much time, but you will save your legs. Very little accommodation right here and at least one hotel was not open because of lack of staff. At another, the overseas staff were not even snow-sports enthusiasts. Madness. There is literally nothing else to do here so if you are a young charger who doesn't mid hard work, make yourself known. Beginners can mostly ignore it. Stay in Akakura. There is piste skiing of course, but it is generally ungroomed and screaming "off-piste" piste is the prize of being front of the queue. Everyone calls it powder and face-shots are inevitable but this isn't Hokkaido or even northern Honshu. When that snow hits you, it sticks to everything, which means that it consolidates quickly and forms a hard surface such that the next dump commonly sits on a hard layer. It sloughs off easily and it can occasionally trip you up as you ride knee deep fresh stuff that hides obstacles. The future: There is talk of extending Seki 300m higher, which would precipitate big changes. On the one hand, it would open up a huge area and cement its legendary status but on the other it would no doubt change the warts-and-all charm of the place forever. Alternatives: A quiet lunch alternative at the bottom lift. If you really want to stop at peak lunch time, this place deserves to be more popular than it is and is much nicer on the inside than you might guess. Myko is a huge volcano and the lift-accessed and higher country above Tsubame delivers similar conditions but you absolutely need to be sure you now how to navigate back to the ski area via the tunnel and please respect any rules about skiing above Tsubame onsen and the road because locals are very wary of skiers causing avalanches. The steep and twisty road down from Tsubame Highland Lodge, up-valley from Seki, has become popular with people getting images of each other hitting kickers. Meanwhile, ask anyone who has been here on a fresh snow day and expect them to bore you senseless with why you need to go there.
September 09, 2018
Al Cochrane
A legendary little powder haven that is truly magic!
March 26, 2008
Nicholas Klar from Ski Japan - Nagano Japan - Nagano
Seki Onsen is not as popular as it was in its hey day. Yet it has a certain appeal and was even featured recently on the Travel Channel's world ski series (Japan's only one). Although small, it's best not to ski off-piste here unless you are really sure what you're doing. For more information check out sekionsen.com (Japanese) or http://myoko-nojiri.com /ski.htm (English)