Lifts & Terrain
Furano Ski and Snowboard Terrain
Furano ski resort has great on-piste terrain for beginners through to advanced skiers and boarders. Unfortunately off-piste skiing is not permitted which can be incredibly frustrating for powderhounds and expert skiers and boarders. Those willing to take the risk of sniffing out the powder will need to practice the limbo before visiting Furano.
The Furano ski area has two zones. One is called the Furano Zone which has the New Furano Prince Hotel at the base (which is not to be confused with the Furano Prince Hotel which is closer to the Kitanomine base). The Kitanomine Zone has the Kitanomine gondola station and Kitanomine accommodation area at the base. The two zones are interconnected by a link run and lift. There are many beginner and intermediate runs at the base of each side of the mountain with the steeper and deeper runs up higher.
Complimentary ski hosting is available as long as you fill out a form at your hotel by 5pm the day prior. The guides meet at the ground floor of the Kitanomine Gondola Station at 10am.
Furano Lifts
The lift infrastructure is impressive with a gondola, the super fast cable car and multiple quad chairs. If you’re keen to get first tracks, note that the Kitanomine gondola doesn’t open until 9am so you’ll need to use the lifts.
Lift tickets
They accept credit cards for lift ticket purchases – yippee! Ladies keep an eye out for ladies’ day discounts which means for money for shopping – double yippee!
Snow and Weather Conditions
Furano receives an average of 8-9 metres (no one seems to be able to agree!) of typical Hokkaido dry powder each year. The cold temperatures generally keep the snow in great condition, although on one day that we were there, the powder was super heavy and nasty for the thighs. The best time for powder is in early January through to late February.
It’s not particularly windy at Furano, and the hooded chair lift, ropeway and gondola provide lovely protection in the event of inclement weather.
For the Beginner Furano has three areas where families or beginners can learn to ski or snowboard, with beautifully groomed wide runs. At Kitanomine these are from the quad chair (there are no beginners runs from the top of the gondola), and at the Furano base by utilising the lower Romance Chair. From the top of the ropeway, another beginners area can be accessed by riding the upper Romance Chair. You might be kept company by the typical school groups in identical outfits, only to be differentiated by the numbered bib. Enjoy the uniqueness of your own outfit.
Intermediate Ski Terrain Furano is heaven for the intermediate skier or snowboarder, or those wanting to progress to the next level. With long cruisers and fantastic fall-line, there’s plenty to choose from to improve the technique and start picking up the speed.
For the Family / Kids
Furano is very well suited to families considering the variety of terrain and the beginners’ areas for beginners.
Parks & Pipes/For The Shredder
There’s a half pipe above the New Furano Prince Hotel, and there are limited park facilities including a table top, bank and wave.
Advanced Ski and Snowboard Terrain
The top half of the mountain has some steep groomed descents including the ladies’ downhill which can be some fast fun. There are also plenty of fast runs off the ropeway to test the leg fitness. There are some ungroomed courses under the gondola and the long and reasonably steep Kumaotoshi is accessed from the gondola. It is only open for limited parts of the day, possibly to make it seem exclusive! The Challenge course on the far skiers left of the Furano Zone provides some ungroomed skiing, and an opportunity to ruin your knees on the bumps.
Expert Riding
There is no in-bounds terrain for experts. There are no super steeps, no chutes or drop-offs, and with a prohibition on tree skiing there is obviously no legal steep tree skiing. Any fun needs to be of the naughty variety – see below.
For the Powderhound
Tree skiing is prohibited in Furano, so this is not the place to wear your trendy lairy coloured outfit (or a pink helmet!). A camouflage outfit of white, brown or black is required if you want to ski off-piste.
There are quite a few areas for tree skiing inside the resort, but you’ll need to pick your spots. Although it's very tempting to ski amongst the trees off the new double lift at the top of the Furano Zone, you’d be asking for your lift ticket to be confiscated considering the patroller’s headquarters is at the base of these runs.
Some of the other tree runs do not have a great fall-line, with significant side angles resulting in one-legged quads burn. The runs that do have a good fall-line have patches of steep pitch and some very tight trees to test your turning radius. These off-piste areas within the resort don’t get too trashed, with fresh tracks still to be found at lunch time. Not surprisingly, the tighter the trees are together, the less trashed the snow becomes.
There are some awesome out-of-bounds areas on both sides of the resort, but out-of-bounds is really out-of-bounds and considered very naughty, necessitating extreme sneakiness and care. These areas are accessed fairly easily with no hiking, but the exits will be frustrating for snowboarders. When we visited, we were so lucky that we were the only ones venturing out of bounds, which enabled all our dreams to come true – freshies everywhere, steep descents, widely spaced trees and neck deep powder in places. Of course you need to be aware that there are risks associated with backcountry skiing and
avalanche equipment and precautions are highly recommended in these areas.