Furano Resort Reviews
Visitor reviews for Furano Ski Resort
Click here to submit your own review of Furano
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
February 05, 2017
Sion Millett from
United States
Sion Millett from
United States
Such a great resort. Epic side and back country that has powder for days after a good snow fall. Lifts and pistes that are often closed / empty. A town that is is yet to succumb to the tourist boom with some incredible restaurants. Perhaps not the same amount of snow that some other resorts have but bring your own wheels and visit the 5 or so other mountains all within an hour's drive on the dry days.
October 29, 2015
Lucy from
Australia
Lucy from
Australia
I like Furano. The town is an agricultural hub with a purpose beyond feeding and watering tourists (although local businesses are very pleased to do that). The resort also works for me although the first time I went up the gondola (all the way to the top, my first mistake), I fell in the powder and spent a good 10 minutes getting upright-ish. Mustn't grumble...
I am originally Canadian and skied BC a lot; the beauty here reminds me of there. I also lived in the US and skied Colorado a lot. I guess the friendliness and community feel of towns that are towns all year whether or not we ski here reminds me of there.
In Australia, I live in the Snowy Mountains and really the back country experience reminds me of there. Not that the snow or terrain are even remotely similar, but the sense of being in nature, at peace, with a huge epic either behind you, ahead of you, or up to your neck right now, feels similar.
I am about to ski my 11th winter here. The Furano discoveries I've made in those seasons are the chocolate shop in Kitanomine (a whole shop of chocolate), the cross-country / skating tracks at the base of Kitanomine, best OM shope about 12km out of town towards Asahikawa (sells everything on earth and then some), and the double espresso at the Marche in Furano town. It's a strong long black although possibly better.
Just on the basics, children 12 and younger ski for free at Furano resort and my kids look way older than they are and have never been hassled getting their passes.
I advise the first time you come, tour with a pro, the next time organise your own accom but do guided day trips, and the next time DIY the whole thing and hire a car with a GPS. They all have GPS's but make sure you can input telephone numbers before you drive off the lot.
xx
February 18, 2015
Matt from
Australia
Matt from
Australia
When it snows you don't need to duck the ropes to find powder but get a guide to take you backcountry and you will need to order skis. Amazing place: great food in the town down below and amazing skiing. If you want somewhere where English is widely spoken and you can get pizza for dinner go to Niseko. Come here to enjoy and participate in the Japanese culture. Been coming for six years and love the place although unimpressed with the increasing number of Australians wandering around drinking beer from cans in public and swearing loudly in the gondolas. No wonder the rest of the world thinks we are uncultured.
Kitanomine side is my pick for both the best snow and food but it is harder to get first tracks than on the Furano side which has a larger gondola.
January 12, 2014
Powdah to the People from
Australia
Powdah to the People from
Australia
Furano grows on you. We ended up with positive reflections on this place, as a whole. Like many snow fields in Hokkaido, it needs new snow to keep the skiing interesting. There are lots of flats and basically the bottom half of the mountain is no more than gentle cruise. The snow quality can be ridiculously good. In fact, on some powder days it was almost too light and no one needs fat/powder skis here (note: the gondola does not easily accommodate more than mid fat skis). Aside from the "Premium" run (great with every new snowfall)', the Kitonomine side is rather lacking. Unfortunately, they limit the opening hours of the ""Premium" area so that after 2pm you're done. The Giant run offers something but it is short. The "romance" chairs scattered around this hill are just too slow. The lift infrastructure and more specifically the layout isn't the greatest especially for young kids at the bottom of Kitonomine area. Furano side struck me as having a slightly better layout and fall line runs. I rate this side better for kids that are learning or improving. Nothing notable about the night skiing, it's all very tame with nothing challenging accessible. Rope ducking was tolerated and I didn't experience or witness any rigid ski patrol. Food is typical Japan resort fare. It's tasty and wholesome and there are a variety of places in town and at Kitonomine (limited options at the New Prince complex, however). We stayed at the ski in-(just about) ski-out hotels. The rooms and facilities at New Prince are much nicer but it's a cattle market and quite impersonal. Much more friendly at the old Prince. Staff were much friendlier here maybe because their English was so much better. Furano is conveniently located; try other nearby resorts but most tend to be even smaller. Asahidake offers some powder play time. It has good facilities and you get about max 50 people skiing there. You will not remember Asahidake for its terrain either but the pow is memorable.
November 29, 2013
Peter from
Australia
Peter from
Australia
Furano has lured my wife and I back February 2014 for another two weeks of delightful Japanese hospitality, scenery and, of course, awesome skiing on sensational snow. There are challenges for all levels of skiers/snowboarders, but, as mentioned by others, the off-piste policy is a slight downside. There are very good reasons for this: there are areas (up top particularly) that, to the naked eye, look seriously dangerous. We chose to get the off-piste experience at Kamui and Tomamu (easy 1 hour access from Furano). Furano town ticks off all the boxes in terms of access from the resort, restaurants (usually very quiet in winter) and all the normal facilities associated with a large rural town. And if you're up for top-shelf tuition and training I highly recommend FISS, based at Kitanomine Zone. Ben, Jan, Rebecca and the crew are outstanding.
February 16, 2013
Fonz from
Japan
Fonz from
Japan
February 08, 2013
David Toppin from
Japan
David Toppin from
Japan
Have skied all over the world and Furano rates amongst the better resorts. Truly Japanese experience with little English spoken, well groomed slopes with plenty of runs left ungroomed after new falls, great local food in Furano (an easy bus trip away from the ski area), zero queues for lifts, prices similar to non-resort areas, cheap lift tickets (cf Australia), Japanese hospitality and politeness exceptional, honesty and respect outstanding, lacks the coarseness of 'Ozified' Niseko (if you want to get drunk every night and sing Aussie, Aussie etc, stay in Melbourne), wide range of terrain that suits all but hard core mogul skiers, low temperatures keep snow in top condition, ski in-ski out access available; suits both riders and skiers. Five star recommendation.
November 08, 2011
jon from
Australia
jon from
Australia
Skied here Jan 2010 and found the pistes so boring! Steepish, great quality snow, wide and uncrowded. YAWN! Venturing off-piste was pretty awesome though and seemed to be easy enough to do without the patrol being too worried. There were sections that needed to be avoided due to avalanche risk and some twits decided to ski there. This prompted the patrol to get active and ruined our safe explorations. Losers! Heard these twits boasting in our lodge later and it turned out it was the last day of their trip so they took some risks. Bad idea. Could have died and made ruining our safe day seem trivial. Found a couple of nice bars in the town proper but it's pretty sleepy. Good spot to stay and do day trips to surrounding resorts like Kamui Ski Links (off-piste encouraged), Asahidake (take a guide) and Tomamu (off-piste encouraged after signing a waiver).
January 02, 2011
John from
Australia
John from
Australia
Extensive, efficient lift network. Courteous and friendly staff. Pity about the snow. It hasn't snowed for several days and the thin cover means that the groomers have picked up gravel chips all over the place.
My brand new powder skis are now looking like they have had 3 seasons in Australia instead of 3 days in Furano. Sob sob.
February 25, 2010
Doug from
New Zealand
Doug from
New Zealand
This place (Furan) truly is an amazing place. I snowboarded here a few years ago and had problems with riding off-piste but now it seems that the ski patrol don't even bat an eyelid.
Fresh lines everyday in the driest lightest snow, no crowds, great restaurants, great locals. They even had free culture performances on every week for anyone who wanted to go along.
This is definitely not a flashy resort, with only modest facilities you can not compare this to many resorts in that respect, but if you are looking for good snow with a real Japanese experience (not any of what they serve you in Niseko) then this place is it.
I will definitely be coming back here again.