Nothing but great things to say about every aspect of the tour in last week of Feb 2025!! The modern comfortable lodge with fireplace, to the hospitality shown by Ken and his lovely wife who made awesome breakfasts and local bookings for us, to the very experienced guide Aaron who always found powder for us and made sure we were safe. Also appreciated Ken’s flexibility as we arrived one day early (as you do..). but he was still able to accomodate us at the lodge with no notice for the extra night - which showed great customer service. I Hope to come back one day and experience it all again - trip of a lifetime.
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Having just completed my third great tour with Furano Snow Tours speaks for itself as a happy repeat customer. I have done many guided ski tours world wide and rate Ken McBride’s operation very highly. After a fun week last year but with disappointing snow conditions, I decided to hedge my bets this year and book 2 tours back to back (with 4 days in between which I spent in Asahikawa where I could easily access Kamui, Asahidake and Pippu). The strategy really paid off with the first week being a bit light on for the fresh stuff but the second week blessed with huge dumps. Ken and Aaron are both excellent guides with in depth knowledge of all the terrain in the resorts in central/ north Hokkaido and great ability to find the secret powder stashes even when there hasn’t been fresh snow for a few days. They study the conditions each night and choose the mountain with the greatest likelihood of fresh snow. Our base at the Element Hotel is extremely comfortable and stylish (designed by Ken) with great ambience - more like a ski lodge than a hotel- with a lovely communal dining/living area where guests enjoy delicious breakfasts prepared by Ken’s wife Chie, and debrief on the day over a few beers in front of the fire. Ken’s package for the week includes 3 dinners at wonderful local restaurants in Furano, showcasing the local cuisine and onsens on the way back from some mountains. There is also a beautiful private onsen room at the Element.
Each of my 3 groups have included a mix of boarders and skiers, and the mix worked well together. The only feedback I would give to skiers is that with the increasing number of powderhounds flocking to Japan in search of the holy grail of untracked powder, to achieve this, you need to be prepared to put in a bit of effort to “earn your turns”. If 100% of the group is not prepared in advance, in terms of mindset and equipment, then the group’s options to hike or skin a short way to find the untracked goodness, are reduced. Ken provides snowshoes for boarders for this purpose and I suggest that skiers should either bring their AT gear or arrange to hire it in Furano before the trip starts. Boot packing for skiers is hard work while a short 30 min skin (even for those who have never done it) uses far less energy and makes it more likely that the whole group will be happy to venture further and more often.
Finally, as a “60 something” year old solo female traveller, there is always some trepidation signing up to ski for a week (or 2 ) with a group of people you don’t know, but this has never been a problem with my FST groups. They have all been great, with people from all over the world with diverse backgrounds and ages united by the common love of skiing/riding.
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We recently stayed and Element with Ken and Chie. The accommodation was fantastic!! Architectural, modern and spacious with a warm inviting feel and a great view of the surrounding mountains.
Breakfast was served daily by Chie and was delicious.
Ken and Aaron provided excellent guiding of the surrounding resorts. The terrain was a mix of bowls and tree runs and the guides were structured, safe and informative.
Ken also rents out powder boards which a few of our group utilised and it was definitely worth it.
The restaurants we ate at were authentic and yummy and of course the Sapporo Classic was amazing!\
We would highly recommend this guided tour and would definitely return in the future.
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Negative reviews are not my norm but in choosing FST, I relied on all the 5* reviews on PH and they were NOTHING like what I experienced. I’ve been on numerous ski tours and experienced FST as average at best and my exerience was poor. The positive was the accommodation that Ken and his wife run, which was good. The Tour/schedule/route of the tour was also fine. We did not get a lot of fresh snow during my tour so relied on Ken to know where the stashes were hiding and he did a decent job of this. The killer of the tour was Ken himself and is absolute rigidity in how he ran the tour and his compelte absence of a customer service mentality. It was Ken’s way or the highway in every aspect. I’m not talking safety here, I’m talking what/when/how & why...was all Ken and questions or suggesiton were dismissed everytime. It was if we were on a school trip with a grumpy teacher doing a job for the $…and I know others on the tour felt the same. But the real issue were the POW-CRIMES that Ken committed. We had only two true POW days in the 5 we toured. On the first, at the legendary Asahidaki, Ken wanted to pull the plug at his standard cut off time of 3pm rather than do another run... we had only done 4 for the day! I had to push for a 5th, which he reluctantly agreed to. But the real crime was on the final and best POW day of the tour when we went to Kamui Ski Links after a dump. Ken was taking us on crappy/flat side piste when the best POW of the mountain and of the entire tour was in another area of the resort that he cleary knew about and did not take us. I split off from Ken’s BS and skied myself for the afternoon. I hooked up with a solo who took me to lift acccessed areas where Ken did not and I COULD NOT BELIEVE the POW I found. Ken failed at his job...and, frankly, his business in tjhis instance! Being balanced I would rate FST at a 3.5…personally I rate it a 2. If you don't know what good looks like, you probably would not pick up on much of what I have outlined but there is so much better avaialble the FST...suggest you find it

Response from Ken of Furano Snow Tours

“The previous review written by Kalo is from the same tour, and his review was very positive. Others on the same tour are repeat customers and are looking to come back again for a 3rd time. So I am not sure what Grant means by “and I know others on the tour felt the same” as it seems that they had a great time and didn’t feel there were any “Pow Crimes” committed.

On the first day Grant decided to do a run himself (2 others decided to do this too) while everyone went to have lunch, which is fine. However, he decided to go off-piste unguided and got lost and stuck for a while. The 2 others went off-piste unguided too before Grant and they got separated. The 2 informed me of the situation when they made it back. Aaron and myself were concerned for his safety. We had an idea of where he was. It was a smaller resort luckily and he finally made it to a road and came back to the restaurant himself. I discussed this issue with him as I did with the other 2 lads regarding safety concerns, which it seems he perceived as me being a “grumpy teacher” which was evident through his response to my feedback.

On the same day after doing a van pick up and dropping the group off, Grant decided to rest his skis up against a local Japanese snowboarder’s Mercedes Benz. The Japanese guy saw this and was staring at the group furiously and walked over to his car without saying anything (probably intimidated by a big group of foreigners). But everyone didn`t seem to realize the situation at the time. I saw this while driving off in the van. Others also put their avi packs on the roof of another car. After mentioning this to the other guide we decided that this lack of respect for other people`s car and property should be addressed although I didn`t want to be the grumpy teacher and was considering not saying anything. I decided to address the whole group later in the day and not mention any names. But I guess Grant knew it was about what he did and again did not like being provided with feedback. We saw the owner of the Merc again at the end of the day and he was rightly giving us greezies so I went to apologies to him and informed him and his friend that I’d given feedback to the group. Some owned up to placing their bags on the car roof later and apologized, however Grant did not. So that may have set the tone for Grant and how he perceived me and the rest of the tour while everyone else enjoyed the week.

If it is after 3 and depending on the weather we do not venture backcountry at Asahidake on the 3:20 or 3:40 (last cable car) in case something happens and we need time for rescue. We are usually there for 1st cable car and lifts with our tours as other tour groups arrive late. This became an issue once before many years ago where I needed to rescue a client late in the afternoon in a blizzard where we should have finished one run earlier.

It's unfortunate that he wasn’t able to accept feedback graciously and get on with enjoying the tour and the powder like the others in the group.
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We had a great time overall. Everything was organized very well. Ken and Aaron did a great job of guiding us in different spots each day and showing us some secret places where there was always fresh untracked powder. On some of the days they organized van pickups so we could snowboard down untracked backcountry terrain where there were normally no other groups so we had the terrain all to ourselves. They were always very professional but were also easy going so we had nice fun chats and with them. We also had a few nice dinners and onsen visits.

Some of us rented some of their powder boards and I would definitely recommend this if you don't have one or just want to try something new. They are well waxed and super fun to ride! Also quite a convenience for travelling if you don't carry one with you.

I can see in other comments that is has happened before not to have a great skill match between all the guests participating in the tour. We had a similar experience, however it was really not that big of a deal in our case. It was handled professionally and sometimes we were split in 2 groups. I would say it is hard to judge anybody's skill before riding together so it's normal to expect that on any tour.

About the Accommodation - the Element Furano is a modern and spacious villa with everything you need for a great winter holiday! Chi was taking great care of us every day, making us big portions of great western-style breakfast and also warming up the fireplace in the evening. It is a 10 min drive from town so they gave us lifts to Furano whenever we needed - for a meal or to a convenience store. It's fairly easy to call a taxi from most bars or restaurants and costs less than 2000 yen to get back to the villa.

Overall great experience and would definitely repeat at some point! :) Thanks guys!
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This tour was insane! Ken put us on the powder EVERYDAY! Literally not a single day that we did not get fresh lines and good times. His wife Chie made our stay at their awesome lodge feel so comfortable. She left a huge impression with a minimal footprint. Didnt even notice she was there but we DEFINITELY noticed that she was there with how well taken care of we were. I would absolutely do this tour again. Word of advice to all who go on the tour. The ability guidelines are there for a reason please make sure you are well within those guidelines so that you can get the most of the tour and not hold others in your group back.
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Ken and Chia were wonderful hosts. Their lodge, Element, was comfortable and in a nice location, an easy cab ride from anywhere in Furano. The lodge is warm, inviting, comfortable, social and the Japanese bath was so nice, also the breakfasts were also very good!

Ken was a great guide and certainly knew the area well. I feel as if he maximized the conditions and weather to the fullest extent and that each day we were skiing in the right place. The onsens were also a nice bonus.

My only comment is that the group was not evenly matched according to ability. There were a few skiers with less ability and a few skiers with greater ability and it was a struggle to make it work. With that said, Ken was clearly aware of the situation and was proactive at communicating to everyone and handled it as well as could be expected.

One other comment...the food is stellar in Furano and there are a lot of great places to eat. I would recommend doing a little research on where you want to eat, have options, so that on the nights there wasn't a group dinner with Ken you had ideas. Our group, although it always worked out, had moments of struggle trying to find a place to accommodate us.

I would certainly go back and ski with Furano Snow Tours again!
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I can’t recommend this tour enough, Ken, his wife and Aaron literally take of everything from being picked up in Furano to being dropped off on the last day. The accommodation is very well designed, a great breakfast every morning and dinners out during the week. But best of all was the days on the mountains, Aaron and Ken’s knowledge of all the resorts / back country areas we visited was insane - I couldn’t believe how much they knew, from finding the best spots for fresh snow whilst safely navigating and ensuring everyone was enjoying themselves. I’ll be back every year that I can!
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This was my first experience on a guided tour and it didn't disappoint. Ken and his wife Chie were awesome hosts. For Hokkaido standards, we didn't have a huge amount of snow while we were there but at least arrived after good snowfalls. In saying this, Ken was able to find plenty of untouched and very easily accessible lines each and every day and we had a ball!

The group was of mixed abilities but Ken was able to supply a second guide after a few days in so the group could be separated in two and each could enjoy appropriate terrain. Safety was always of the utmost priority, there was never a moment that I felt as though any of the group were in a vulnerable situation.

The lodge is simply beautiful and incredibly comfortable. Ken spent plenty of his own time with us all too, taking us to dinners, bars and surrounding onsens. It really was a great all-around tour. I'll be back, thanks Ken!
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Had an amazing week stationed in Furano with Ken and Furano Snow Tours. The Element is a beautiful lodge with a nice vibe for hanging out and review the days adventure and discuss the next one.
Breakfast from their own grown vegetables each day was very nice and a good start of the day.

Ken guided us around different resorts and always found a spot with powder, even though it hadn't snowed overnight. He knows the area well, has extensive knowledge and gives advice on the off day aswell. Has safety in mind when we're riding and matches the runs to the groups level.
Helpful with making reservations for dinner, and has recommendations for everything - even when we left for our next destination on our Japan trip.

Already recommended Ken and Furano Snow Tours to friends, and would visit again.
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We stayed with Ken for his multi day tour and picked up fresh lines in powder everyday.
Ken’s tour is a great introduction to Japanese culture, food, ski areas, onsens. He is great at finding powder with minimal effort so you can get on and ride a few laps. On our trips the boot pack was never more than 5mins and a skate/walk out never more than 5mins. He worked out the best days to go to the different areas depending on the snow. He took us through tricky tree traverses to hidden powder and navigated tough no vis conditions at Asahidake mountain so we could still find good snow.
Ken’s lodge at Element is the icing on the cake. It is a high spec boutique building that is perfect place to chill out in after a day in the pow.
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Excellent trip, really impressed by Ken's lovely lodge with high ceilings, wood fire, generous rooms and fab breakfasts, as well as the stunning riding. We were two snowboarders, and 3 skiers were on the trip too and Ken guided well for us all. Great choices each day to chase the best snow and see a selection of small, uncrowded and untouristy resorts around Furano.
The Onsen were a great way to finish the day on several days and having them included was a real bonus. Ken took us to, or recommended, delicious, exciting restaurants all with just a few seats. Although a bit worried about being based outside of town that was not an issue at all, and anyway there's not much street life and you are better off having someone local like Ken to point you in the right direction.
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Our week with Furano Snow Tours was outstanding, we were there January 6-13 in 2023 and it was a fantastic week of lift-served side country and in-bounds tree lines that were barely touched. The terrain and skiing was great and our hosts and the guiding was outstanding. Ken knows the best lines at many resorts in central Hokkaido and planned our week based on the snow conditions and new snow that came to the area on the week we were there.

The hosts, Ken and Chie are awesome, the daily breakfasts were tasty, they were very helpful in organizing dinners or making suggestions to us on the nights we had a free night to enjoy our own choice of restaurant. The also made sure we knew how to explore Furano's bars and restaurants when we weren't skiing powder, dipping into the trees, eating lunch on the mountain or getting soaked in an onsen.

We had some snow during our week trip, but even on the days when it didn't dump some fresh snow, Ken monitored the weather and took us to the resort which would have the best conditions and found us the lines with fresh powder and tree skiing opportunities every day. Ken and Chie did a lot to help our group bond, with a welcome dinner on the first evening and lots of efforts to help us become tight as a group and help each other when needed.

Ken excels as a guide, host and leader, making sure we all had the right attitude and mindset to have a great day each time we went riding. Our group was a mix of boarders and skiers and the places we went were suitable for both, although skiers have it a bit easier when it comes to getting along cat tracks. The restaurants we went to for our group dinners were places you wouldn't know about if you weren't local, but they were some of the best meals I've ever had in Japan. Ken was a fantastic host, a great guide and the lodging that you stay in is purpose-built for a ski tour group with several different private rooms and in-suite bathrooms, a common area and a board/ski room for warming and drying boots/gloves and other items.

FST is a fantastic group to book your Hokkaido trip with, they really know how to do everything well and provided us with the best ski trip we could have imagined.

I recommend FST for anyone that wants a great week skiing Japow with a first class guiding operation.
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I spent a week at Furano Snow Tours in the middle of February 2019 and it was an amazing week! The accommodations were modern and upscale! Small bed and breakfast style chalet just outside of Furano. They provided a delicious breakfast each morning before heading out into the snow along with a few dinners out during the week. Lovely place to stay!!

The skiing was spectacular!! Our guide was on top of the weather each day and he decided where to go based on the weather reports. He basically found us powder every day at a different resort!! The skiing was mostly in beautiful, gladed trees that were typically just outside the ski area boundaries. Not much effort to get to but full of fresh tracks! We did one full backcountry day at Tokachidake and that was super fun and hero powder!! Oh and the onsen each night was the best way to soak achy muscles from all the pow we slayed!!

I travelled solo to Japan and my biggest concern was not knowing the ability of the group I would be riding with. I'm sure it's different from group to group but I lucked out and was with a great group of folks who all rode equally as hard!! The stoke level was very high each day and I truly enjoyed the group dynamics that developed over the week!

Be sure to bring your touring gear though. A couple guys in our group had to rent touring skis for a day and they were not cheap.

I would highly recommend a trip with Furano Snow Tours! Best week of snowboarding ever!!
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My mate (a Snowboarder) and i (Skier) had a really great time within Furano Snow Tours. The Lodging was really great. We were accommodated in the house next to Kens house. The house was build like a hotel with 4 different rooms and enough space for everyone. The constructions of the hotel were just finished in 2016 so it was very new and modern and the rooms are set up in a style i like.

Our Guide's name was Allan. he drove us around and showed us the different resorts and backcountry possibilities within the resorts. The Guiding and Backcountry program was diverse and adjusted to our needs and wishes.

Also the evening programm with the included dinners were really fun. At one evening we went out for karaokee with the guides and on our last evening we went out in a bar for dancing and drinking.

I highly recommend Ken & Allan at Furano Snowtours for people who also want a great japan experience beside the skiing activities.
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