Ski resorts in Japan are prized for having some of the deepest, lightest powder around. A winter of exceptionally heavy snow — some areas had more than 12 feet of snowpack this week — should be a skier or snowboarder’s dream.

The ski terrain in Japan this winter is “super big and super gnarly,” the Austrian professional skier Tao Kreibich, 27, said in a video about a recent backcountry excursion in the country. “You can do some crazy stuff.”

Yes, but …

While many of Japan’s 500 or so ski areas are having a banner season, giant snowdrifts have led to challenges that have dented profits and raised safety concerns.

“Heavy snow is both a joy and a worry” for resort workers, said Shinichi Imoto, a spokesman for Washigatake Ski Resort, which is seeing some of its largest drifts in a decade. “There are concerns if it doesn’t fall, and concerns if it falls too much.”

Some resorts have had to close lifts to give crews more time to shovel out. Road closures have cut off access for would-be visitors. In some places, more skiers and snowboarders than usual have gotten lost in the backcountry or stuck in avalanches.