Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort (野沢温泉スキー場) in northern Nagano is scheduled to open for the 2026-27 winter season on Saturday, November 28, 2026. Lift ticket prices are already out: an adult 1-day pass costs ¥7,800 in the regular season.
The resort's official online sales aren't scheduled to start until Friday, December 18. Until then, day passes (1- to 3-day and 4-hour) bought directly from the resort are sold on site.
The early season, November 28 to December 18, is the cheapest stretch: an adult 1-day pass is ¥5,600, or ¥2,200 less than in the regular season.
2026-27 Season Dates
The winter season is scheduled to run from November 28, 2026 to May 5, 2027, split into three price periods.
Period | Dates |
|---|---|
Early season | Sat, Nov 28 – Fri, Dec 18, 2026 |
Regular season | Sat, Dec 19, 2026 – Sun, Mar 28, 2027 |
Spring season | Mon, Mar 29 – Wed, May 5, 2027 |
November 28 is a target date, not a guarantee, so check the resort's notices before you travel to see which runs are open. An opening festival is planned for December 19, the first day of the regular season.
Regular-Season Lift Ticket Prices
These prices apply from December 19 to March 28. Child rates cover kids through junior high school, and senior rates are for ages 60 and up.
Ticket | Adult / Child / Senior |
|---|---|
1-day | ¥7,800 / ¥4,700 / ¥6,300 |
2-day | ¥14,500 / ¥8,700 / ¥11,650 |
3-day | ¥21,200 / ¥12,700 / ¥17,000 |
4-hour | ¥6,700 / ¥4,000 / ¥5,350 |
Seniors need ID that shows their age, such as a driver's license. Preschoolers don't need a lift ticket, up to one per adult, as long as they go through the gate together with that adult.
The 2-day and 3-day passes cover two or three consecutive days, starting on the day you buy them. There's no 4-day or longer pass on the resort's price list.
Check hotel availability and rates in Nozawa Onsen for a multi-day trip
The 4-hour pass is valid for four hours from the first time you go through a gate, on that day only. For adults it's only ¥1,100 less than a 1-day pass, so it's mainly worth it when you arrive around midday.
From March 1 to 28, the Spring Break Family Pack (春休みファミリーパック) bundles 1-day passes: one adult and one elementary or junior high student for ¥10,000 (¥12,500 bought separately), or one adult and two students for ¥13,700 (¥17,200 separately).
If you'll be back several times this season, the individual season pass is ¥102,500 for adults, plus a ¥500 IC card deposit. Applications close on February 20, 2027.
Early-Season and Spring Lift Ticket Prices
Both periods are cheaper than the regular season, and the passes are valid on the gondolas too, though which gondolas and lifts actually run depends on snow conditions.
Adult ticket | Early season | Spring |
|---|---|---|
1-day | ¥5,600 | ¥6,100 |
2-day | ¥10,400 | ¥11,300 |
3-day | ¥15,200 | ¥16,500 |
4-hour | ¥4,800 | ¥5,200 |
A child's 1-day pass is ¥3,400 in the early season and ¥3,600 in spring.
Early-season 2-day passes are sold until December 17 and 3-day passes until December 16. To ski consecutive days at the early-season price, buy by those dates.
How to Buy: Ticket Counter, Online or Through Your Lodging
At the ticket counter you can pay with cash, credit card, iD (a Japanese contactless payment service), some QR-code payment apps, or a transit IC card like Suica.
The resort's online sales are scheduled to open on December 18, 2026, the last day of the early season. If you're skiing in the early season, plan on buying on site.
The official online shop is in Japanese and takes credit cards only: Visa, Mastercard or JCB, plus affiliated brands such as American Express and Diners Club. Tickets can't be canceled, changed or refunded once you've bought them.
If you don't have the resort's IC card yet, you'll get a QR code after paying. Show it at the ticket counter to pick up your IC card.
If you already have one, enter its number to load the new pass. Loading overwrites whatever is on the card, so use up any remaining pass first. It can take about 15 minutes before the gates recognize the new pass.
There's no ¥500 IC card deposit on 1-day, 2-day, 3-day, 4-hour or night passes.
At the gate there's nothing to tap. Carry the card in your left pocket and just walk through. The resort asks that you keep it away from your wallet, phone or other IC cards.
Overnight guests can also get discounted lift tickets, but only through lodgings that belong to the Nozawa Onsen Mountain Resort Tourism Association (野沢温泉マウンテンリゾート観光局), and not every member sells them. They aren't sold at the ticket counter, so check with your lodging.
Prices for these discounted tickets haven't been announced for 2026-27 yet. Last season, the details came out on November 5.
Gondola Hours and Night Skiing
The Nagasaka Gondola (長坂ゴンドラ) runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., or 8:10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in spring. The Hikage Gondola (日影ゴンドラ) runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
In spring, snow conditions decide which lifts run and when, and weather or snow can change operations at any time of the season.
Night skiing runs only on set dates: every night over the New Year holidays, from Saturday, December 26, 2026 to Saturday, January 2, 2027, then every Saturday from January 9 to March 20, plus Sunday, January 10 and Sunday, March 21.
Night skiing runs 4:30 to 8 p.m. on the Nagasaka Four-Seater Lift (長坂フォーリフト). A night pass costs ¥2,850 for adults and ¥1,700 for children. Day passes, including the 4-hour pass, don't cover night skiing, so buy the night pass separately if you want to ski after dark.
Browse Nozawa Onsen tours and activities
To get there, take the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Iiyama Station (飯山駅). From there, the Nozawa Onsen Liner (野沢温泉ライナー), a direct bus, takes about 25 minutes and costs ¥600 for adults, with no reservation needed.
For other ski resorts, see Hakuba Ski 2026-27, Niseko Ski 2026-27 and GALA Yuzawa 2026-27.
This article was translated from the original Japanese with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team. The Japanese version is authoritative.
