Happy New Year from Furano Now, and what better way to start 2014 than get out on the mountain and carve some turns on the immaculately groomed slopes.

Yesterday was an absolute stunning day with 40-50cm of fresh snow on the mountain which the groomers couldn't get to before the skiers.

Yesterdays flurries ended up as great falls and that continued over night. There will be many smiley faces today with an extra 10cm added to the base.

Moderate falls over night were a bit wet but we have some nice flurry this morning being whipped around.

Furano Ski Area reports that the Kitanomine Gondola will start operating today.

The slopes have been replenished by new snowfall overnight which is a bit on the wet side but is ideal for covering up some of the thin patches that were starting to occur on the lower slopes.

It is nice and sunny today with some cloud mixed in as well.

Furano was hit by a serious snow storm last night that dumped another 40cm at village level.

It is snowing at the moment and there has been another 5cm accumulation since the last report.

The snow front arrived late afternoon and continued through the night.

Yesterday the upper mountain received a substantial top up of new snow with light snow falling for most of the day.

Sailer Course is now completely open from top of the ropeway, down to the base.

Furano Ski Area commenced operation for the 2013-14 season yesterday.

It is good news to report in Furano. Yesterday there was 25cm of snow at village level and things changed from brown to white overnight.