Furano Now: Sunday 11th January 2026
- Jan 11
- 2 min read
Independent snow and weather reporting from the Furano region of Hokkaido
New snowfall at base 12cm
Snowfall at base this season 346cm
Posted on Sunday 11th January 2026 This is an archived report. The latest Furano Now report can be found here.
Guten Morgen, Skifahrer und Snowboarder!
For our German visitors.
Well, well, well. We've got ourselves a bit of a mess today. We got 12 cm of new snow since yesterday. This is good, but as the Blue Bloods say when screening their children's love interests, it's "not the right sort." Sloppy, sloppy. Squishy, squishy. More snow is on the way in the coming days. Also good.
BUT, this particular storm system has a lot of wind. Mucho, mucho wind! 20 kph at the base, and allegedly 57 kph on top, far beyond what our delicate Gondola can handle. The Ropeway is more sheltered and still operating today, however, Lift E at the top of the Furano Zone is also closed today due to wind. And this is because, it's going to get even windier after lunch. If the forecast is to be believed, it's going to DOUBLE!!!! Hang on to your helmets! I'd think about packing it in after lunch today.
Big news! The Kitanomine escalator opened today! Yipee! Beginners celebrate, along with everyone else who can now take the magic carpet to the Quad Lift F instead of trudging uphill for 50 meters. Oh, the agony! Naturally, the operation schedule doesn't match the escalator on the other side. Naturally. This is Japan. Logic doesn't necessarily need to apply. Accept it and move on.
That's all I have to say about that.
Think snow, not wind.
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Furano Zone: Most lifts open.
Lift A: 8:30--3:30
Lift B: 9:00--3:30
Lift C: 8:30--7:30
Lift D: 8:40--3:30
Lift E: CLOSED FOR WIND
Snow Escalator:9-12:30 & 1:30-3:30
Kitanomine Zone:
Lift F: 8:30--7:30
Lift G: 8:45--3:30
Lift H: 9:30--3:30
Lift K: (Gondola) CLOSED FOR WIND
Kitanomine snow escalator: OPEN TODAY! 9-12, 1-3:30
Furano Now2025-2026 season |
Data as of Sunday 11th January 2026 Total snowfall at base 346cm Number of days snowfall observed at base 36 days Most snowfall observed in 1 day 30cm (6th December) November 2025 snowfall 45cm reported on 5 days December 2025 snowfall 234cm reported on 22 days January 2026 snowfall 67cm reported on 9 days |
All snowfall data presented on this page is the snowfall measured and observed at base/town level by our reporter based in Furano. The 'new snowfall' number represents the amount of snow measured since the previous report. All opinions are those of the individual reporters. Information regarding ski area operations is manually checked every morning and is believed to be correct at the time of the report.