SnowJapanHistory　スノージャパン ヒストリー
A look back at ski areas from Japan’s past 過去の日本のスキー場を懐かしむ

Sun Marina Tamaniwa



Ski Park

Kawanishi Town, Yamagata Prefecture

サンマリーナ玉庭スキーパーク
山形県川西町

Sun Marina Tamaniwa Ski Park was a ski area located in Kawanishi Town in the southern region of Yamagata Prefecture. It was part of an ‘all-round resort’ that featured a golf course in summer, a large deluxe resort hotel with an indoor heated pool and other extravagant facilities. The quad lift at this ski area was the first hooded quad lift in Japan. Sun Marina Tamaniwa has been closed since 2005. The Kawanishi Solar Park featuring many solar panels across the old ski slopes can now be found at the location.

Sun Marina Tamaniwa Ski Park（サンマリーナ玉庭スキーパーク）
Opened
開設		 1989
Closed
 閉設		 2005
Base elevation
標高最低		 410m
Top elevation
標高最高		 600m
Vertical
標高差		 190m
Steepest slope
最大斜度		 32°
Number of courses
コース本数		 7
Longest run
最長滑走距離		 1,300m
Skill level
初級・中級・上級		 50% beginner
40% intermediate
10% advanced
Ski / board
スキー・ボード		 50% / 50% [2001]
Ski lifts
リフト本数		 2 lifts
Quad 1,100m
Pair 810m
Facilities mostly remain in place
Night skiing
ナイター設備		 There was night skiing every day
 

Photographs

Taken in June 2022
写真撮影：2022年6月

sun-marina-tamaniwa-ski-park-2.jpg
sun-marina-tamaniwa-ski-park-1.jpg
sun-marina-tamaniwa-ski-park-3.jpg

Further Information

  • The quad lift at Sun Marina Tamaniwa was the first hooded-quad lift in Japan
    　
  • There was not much 'steep' at this ski area, but at the same time, it was perhaps too steep for the golf course that opened in the summer months
    　
  • The ski hill closed in 2005, but it was 2014 before the facilities were officially abandoned/abolished
    　
  • They largely remain standing in various stages of deterioration
    　
  • In recent years the slopes of the old ski area have been covered with solar panels and called Kawanishi Solar Park  川西ソーラーパーク太陽光発電所
    　
  • It is now not possible to get close, but on a visit to the area in June 2022, many of the solar panels seemed to have been damaged (see photos above)
    　
  • Sun Marina Tamaniwa Ski Park was one of those ambitious ski resort projects that suddenly emerged during the heady ski boom of the late 1980's....
    　
  • ....and that can perhaps best be filed under 'what were they thinking?!'

Google Earth

Google Street View

Google Maps

 

Location
所在地

Just over 2km off Route 121 to the west of central Yonezawa City in Yamagata Prefecture.
About 17km from the Yonezawa Chuo IC exit of the Tohoku Chuo Expressway.
About 16km from Yonezawa Station on the Yamagata Shinkansen line.
東北中央自動車道　米沢中央ICから的17km
山形新幹線　米沢駅から的16km

Currently operating ski & snowboard resorts in the region
近隣の運営中のスキー場

Yonezawa　米沢　27km
All currently operating ski areas in Yamagata Prefecture

This page was created in May 2020
Last updated on 19th August 2022
2020年5月 作成 　2022年8月19日 更新