Five things I’ve loved about skiing in Furano and the one reason I won’t be back

On paper, Furano has a lot to offer: an expansive ski resort with varied terrain, a Central Hokkaido location promising light, dry powder and an adjacent ski town brimming with culture and dining options. For a family holiday that would bring three generations together – of varying abilities on the ski slopes, and with different travel priorities and preferences – it ticked a lot of boxes.

Now, after a week of skiing and plenty of reflection, my thoughts on Furano as a family ski destination are beginning to settle. Has it been a memorable holiday? Yes. Has Furano lived up to our high expectations? Somewhat. And will we be back? Not for now – and there’s a very good reason. But first, the positives.

Furano ski resort. Image: Angelina Xu

What we liked

Lift tickets

Japanese lift tickets are famously inexpensive – particularly with a struggling yen – but in recent years we’ve seen some fairly significant price hikes from some of the bigger name resorts. Rusutsu’s ¥14,500 single-day lift ticket is the best example of this, thanks to ~30% price hikes over the last two consecutive years.  At ¥10,500, Niseko United’s 1-day lift pass has this season hit five figures for the first time, and is marginally higher than Hakuba Valley’s equivalent pass at ¥9,700 (both still very good value given the multi-resort coverage).

At ¥7,500, the Furano 1-day pass is a genuine bargain – even more so when it is booked online for a ¥500 discount. And while there’s currently no multi-day option, the resort offers three- and five-hour tickets as well as a points-based pass, all of which we found use for at various stages of our trip.

Lengthy queues for those purchasing tickets at the counter. No line if you’ve purchased them online – just scan a QR code at one of two machines

A word of advice: bypass the lengthy queues at the ticket office each morning and purchase your pass online. Those who do so can pick up their pass in mere moments by scanning a QR code at one of two ticket machines at the Kitanomine base.

Kids ski free

A fantastic initiative. Children aged 12 years and younger ski free in Furano (you can collect a free multi-day pass at the ticket office), which is likely an initiative to get younger people back on the mountain after years of decline in Japan.

Rock-Paper-Scissors (じゃん拳ぽん) showdown against Furano Ski Resort’s mascot, Furanon

It makes a family ski holiday far easier on the pocket, and lessens the pressure to “get the most out of your ski pass” in the event that kids are tired and need a day or afternoon off.

Our 4-year-old has skied for free all six days. Had we been in Niseko, it would have set us back ¥36,300 (~US$235).

The food and dining

With a couple of serious foodies in the group, the Furano dining scene was one of the main drawcards, and it has not disappointed. Even the on-mountain food offers variety and value – better than the typical meagre resort offering of curry rice (カレ-ライス), ramen or katsudon (カツ丼) – not that we don’t love all of these at times.

The soup curry at the Kitanomine base was far tastier than the typical ski resort fare

Our experience with Furano dining warrants an article on its own (coming soon), but in general the variety has been excellent and the service exemplary. We have gravitated towards Hokkaido favourites, with visits to Genghis Khan Bonzoku for Jingisukan (ジンギスカン), a regional grilled mutton dish cooked over a metal skillet, and to Furanoya for a superb soup curry packed with local vegetables and loads of flavour.

A special mention goes to Country Kitchen Kazamidori, with an underwhelming menu featuring items like “hamburger steak” and “Furano cheese fondue” that over-delivers on generosity, flavour and extras (our mains came with soup and a healthy serving of locally-grown vegetables). Bonus novelty points for the option to dine in the bus parked permanently outside the restaurant.

Have you ever eaten in a bus? This one sits permanently outside Country Kitchen Kazamidori

For those on a budget, Kodamaya Soba Noodle Shop offered simple, wholesome cuisine in a relaxed setting. Fukuzushi was a treat for the seafood lovers in the group looking to get their sushi and sashimi fix.

We tried restaurants in both Kitanomine and Furano town and, naturally, haven’t shied away from the occasional konbini meal, thanks to the presence of a 24-hour Lawson in the village.

It’s been a successful week of dining, and yet we still feel we’ve barely scraped the surface of what the area has to offer.

Backcountry gates

Furano’s in-bounds skiing is excellent, and there’s more than enough terrain to keep most skiers very happy for a week or longer. However, for confident skiers who are equipped with both the expertise and gear to head into the backcountry, Furano’s gate system is a huge bonus. Rising Sun Guides’ Andrew Spragg put it best when we interviewed him a couple of years ago:

“There’s a huge amount of terrain that’s accessible out of Furano’s gates with virtually no walking, though definitely a bit of traversing. The gates give riders access to some of the longest, continuous uninterrupted fall-line skiing of any of the ski resorts in Hokkaido.

“…we witnessed many skiers heading through the gates either solo or without avalanche gear, despite very clear warnings on the gates advising against this.”

“There’s a lot of vertical and a lot of terrain open. And many aspects available as well, so depending on wind direction, you can actually get really good skiing in most conditions.”

Concerningly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, we witnessed many skiers heading through the gates either solo or without avalanche gear, despite very clear warnings on the gates advising against this. In a season that has seen heavy snowfalls across the country but also a concerning number of incidents, it’s not a good look.

Grooming and intermediate runs

Furano has a plethora of intermediate terrain, which is made even better by exceptional grooming. In Japan, there’s naturally lots of talk about powder skiing and access to backcountry, but for the vast majority of skiers the action mostly takes place in-bounds.

“The feedback from the one intermediate skier in our group confirmed our instincts that it’s a great destination for those still developing their skills”

The feedback from the one intermediate skier in our group confirmed our instincts that it’s a great destination for those still developing their skills, with plenty of wide open runs and a very natural progression from harder beginner (green) runs right the way through to easier advanced (black) runs.

For total beginners we found the terrain wanting, with a very small bunny slope at the base of Kitanomine that was serviced by a magic carpet (more on that later…). The beginner zone on the Furano side may have offered a better set-up, however skiing between the two sides requires an intermediate level of skiing/riding at the very least.

What needs to change

Lift management & infrastructure

For all the positive things we can say about Furano, the resort is sadly let down by issues with lift management and infrastructure. A couple of these can be easily resolved if the desire is there; others may take longer.

Furano’s Facebook post on January 17

Our biggest gripe has been with the seemingly permanent closure of Furano Downhill No.1 High Speed ​​Lift due to mechanical failure. We were alerted to this development through a Facebook post made by the resort in mid-January, which claimed an “inability to procure the necessary parts for the problem area” and no prospect of restoration. Time will tell what the plan is for next season.

Lines on the Furano Ropeway were a common sight

While the lift doesn’t service any part of the resort that can’t be reached through other means, it has delivered extra traffic to the Furano Ropeway, resulting in permanent queues that are often between 45 minutes to an hour. Like many, we chose not to ski the lower half of the Furano side in an effort to avoid the Ropeway, which is a shame in itself.

Queues at other lifts have been long at times but mostly manageable, though there’s no doubt that with the recent influx of foreign travellers to Furano (and many other Japanese resorts), the resort would benefit from upgrading some of its creaky, ageing lift infrastructure. In the meantime, better management of crowds would make some immediate inroads; first, by making sure that lifts are filled to capacity and second, by introducing singles lines.

Could the resort would benefit from upgrading some of its creaky, ageing lift infrastructure?

My last complaint is the unexplained closure of the Kitanomine magic carpet on two of the six days of our visit. No warning, no explanation – just a “closed” sign and a line of skiers and snowboarders trudging up the hill to the chairlift on foot. I asked a local instructor who was none the wiser to the reasons for the closure.

Of course, it’s the kind of minor inconvenience one doesn’t think much of until you’re teaching a 4-year-old to ski and completely reliant on magic carpet access to the beginner hill (as I was, myself). Given the fantastic “kids ski free” initiative and the genuine need in Japan to encourage more beginner skiers, it was a disappointing oversight.

No warning and no reason given

“And while a huge part of me loves Japan for its old, slow lifts and reluctance to overdevelop and monetise everything in sight, another part of me feels that with the traffic Furano is bringing in, combined with accommodation prices that are rivalling Niseko and Nozawa, visiting skiers deserve a little more from the resort’s lift system.”

Reflections on Furano

I’ve loved my time in Furano, and issues with lift lines aside, our week-long stay has delivered on many levels. Our accommodation, booked through All About Furano, has been superb, dining has been memorable, service warm and friendly (except for one grumpy bus driver!), and the skiing seriously good.

And while a huge part of me loves Japan for its old, slow lifts and reluctance to overdevelop and monetise everything in sight, another part of me feels that with the traffic Furano is bringing in, combined with accommodation prices that are rivalling Niseko and Nozawa, visiting skiers deserve a little more from the resort’s lift system. Fixing the broken quad in the fastest timeframe possible will be the first step in restoring some faith from its regulars (a scroll through the comments on the Facebook post above reveals some very unhappy customers) and from there … who knows what.

In the meantime, there are another 480-odd resorts in the country to explore, and Furano – for the time being – will drop down the list. But I’ll be keeping an eye out for signs that it’s time to return.