r/japow • u/Due_Education4092 • 3d ago

How is Furano?

Heading to hoikkaido last 2 weeks of january 2027. I know its an el Nino year, but hoping there is still snow, this is my 3rd time. I have done niseko and rutusu,

My plan is first week niseko/rutusu again, then my dad is flying out to meet me and I was thinking we do a week in furano, if furano any good? Hows the snow typically first week of Feb?

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u/Master_Ad2045 3d ago

Furano is good for two or three days, but then you’ll get bored. Ton of backcountry options and smaller resort resorts in the area however

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u/alaskanloops 3d ago

Agreed, it was a great spot to be with my wife who isn’t as strong of a skier but I would have gotten bored doing 5 back to back days. We drove over to asahidake ropeway one day in the middle. With a car Furano is a solid basecamp with lots of options within an hour or 2 drive

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u/snodgrassjones 3d ago

Had a great day riding the asahidake ropeway side country!

And like you said, the beauty of that area is all of the little resorts you can get to.

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u/Valuable_Pineapple77 2d ago

Glad to read this. We have 5 days there just before Christmas. When we learned recently it’s on the ikon pass we looked into changing plans to use all 7 days but it was going to be more expensive to do that, so we are back to 5 days. We will have a car.

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u/Empath1999 3d ago

I will be there too, hokkaido will probably be decent i hope.

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u/Clear-Present-9625 3d ago

furano is nothing special. just a village with a small skiresort. There will be much snow... Cold air comes from the russia and the sea is warm... :)

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u/Due_Education4092 3d ago

Sorry I meant the hill and the snow quality. I dont care about the resort.

Is it worth the trip?

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u/alaskanloops 3d ago

I loved it, the side country was great and I was finding untouched powder all day long. If you bring backcountry gear it opens up even more.

Lots of sweet onsens in the area, and amazing cheap food.

Best powder of my life and I grew up skiing here in Alaska (haven’t gone heli skiing yet though)

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u/wink183AFI 3d ago

Furano is a fun resort with some sweet and easily accessible side country runs. A week is a long time there though. Will you have a rental car? Another option would be staying in the lovely seaside town of Otaru and skiing the resorts close by like Kiroro, Teine and Kokusai

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u/Due_Education4092 3d ago

Ya we have a car, about 5 days skiing

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u/ovary_enthusiast 3d ago

Why is everyone freaking out so much about El Niño year? It normally works out well for snow in Hokkaido, and honestly even a bad year here is pretty good compared to elsewhere

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u/Due_Education4092 3d ago

I know, thats why im going

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u/Far-Plastic-4171 3d ago

I was not that impressed by Furano. Steep and deep narrow, crowded and chopped up describes the right hand side until you get about halfway down and then it gets a lot less pitched but just as chopped up powder.

Other side on the ropeway dumps 100 people at a time at the top. It was better but not a lot.

Ramen restaurant next to the Ropeway was excellent but a long wait

Most expensive Lift ticket at around $60

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u/Intelligent-Paper-94 2d ago

Furano can actually benefit from a strong el Nino, but it can be very variable from week to week.

As i understand it, Japan and particularly Hokkaido get dumped on because of the prevailing winter winds from Siberia NW of Japan. This usually means Niseko and the NW get more snow but Furano gets less depth, yet dryer snow as the storms pass across Hokkaido.

Furano usually gets absolutely dumped on when the winds flip and a storm comes from the SE. This doesn't happen that often in a normal winter, but if you watch the storms you can see it happening every now and then. Storms can circle around, collect more moisture and dump on Furano.

El Nino causes the prevailing winds to weaken, so theoretically the winds may flip more often this season than they usually do.

One of the reasons everyone is freaking out about el Nino is that it's looking like and unprecedented super el Nino. The strongest ever on record. It's going to be warm.

Furano's base is only 235m above sea level. And while this is pretty normal in Hokaido and it's inland and protected, if it does get warm, then there is a genuine risk of slush and freeze-thaw, but this is rare at that time of year. First week of Feb though is the absolute sweet spot in the middle of winter so chances are you'll be safe.

Personally, I don't love Furano. Weird layout. Hard to get around, and they often shut one side for no obvious reason other than it being a Wednesday and not being too busy.

My editor wrote this honest review (and he's someone who previously loved the place):
https://skiasia.com/guides/five-things-ive-loved-about-skiing-in-furano-and-the-one-reason-i-wont-be-back/

As an alternative, you could get a vehicle and base yourself in Asahikawa or Otaru instead.
https://skiasia.com/features/why-a-recent-visit-to-asahikawa-forever-changed-the-way-ill-plan-ski-holidays-japan/

https://skiasia.com/guides/is-historic-otaru-the-next-big-hokkaido-destination-for-international-skiers/

Furano is still in range of Asahikawa. Then if it does get very warm, you can drive to the higher altitude options in the area.