[Niseko to Furano - how many hours?]

Furano is quite a bit further than Rusutsu. There is no direct public transportation route that I am aware of. Public transit could be JR train, which in the best case is about 4 hours from JR Kutchan to JR Furano, requiring change of trains at Otaru, Sapporo, and/or Takikawa. The other option is to take one of the airport express buses back to Chitose Airport and then direct on to Furano. This is much more time consuming due to the connection time of the buses. The bus companies I am aware of which serve both Furano and Niseko are Hokkaido Access Network and Good Sports.

 

You might want to look at breaking up the trip by doing an overnighter in Otaru or Sapporo, particularly if your timing will allow you to see either city's winter festivals. You can express courier ("takkyuubin") them to Furano to avoid lugging them around on your cultural sidetrip - it is reasonably priced, and if sent by 6:00 pm will normally arrive the next day.

[niseko vs furano]

Well one thing about Furano is it puts you within striking distance of the highest mountain on the island (Asahi-dake, 2209 m.) Guides are highly recommended but if there is any powder to be had late march, you will probably have a better chance of hitting it. Being further from the ocean too, the storms tend to get rid of the rain and cool down before they arrive. Not as much precip but more tends to be snow than rain.

 

The big storm has just blown through Niseko and it sounds like Furano is getting it at the moment.

 

Errrr wait, I mean yeah Furano's rubbish. Best stay away

[Furano Snow Pics]

Hey everyone,

 

Just in case you are wondering what the typhoon has done in Furano... we had a little dusting on the top peak of Furano Ski Hill (above the runs) over the weekend.

 

 

 

It seems to be melting off now, hopefully winter will hold back as we were planning to climb next weekend!!

[Skiing in japan late march-april ?]

Definitely doable, although you will find some of the runs shutting down by end March. Last year Furano was still (very barely) skiable top to bottom on May 6!!

 

Depending on melt the resorts may close their bottom runs by that time of the year.

[Furano for a holiday?]

Originally Posted By: Charles Broad

And what is the best way to stay ahead of the crowds in Niseko?

Quite literally to leave before they arrive. Niseko doesn't start to crowd up until the second or third week of December. Little known fact that the resort generally opens in the last week of November.

Pros of an early visit are no crowds and cheaper prices.

Cons are the risk of a catastophically late snow start, as there are very few snow making machines at Niseko. Also most bars, restaurants, and services won't be open. This can be a plus as most of the people you will hang around with are resort staff instead of tourists.

This may also provide some interesting reading on season starts throughout Japan:
http://www.snowjapan.com/e/general/winter-sports-in-japan-the-season.html