Alpine Backpackers

Rooms and decor

Walk into Alpine Backpackers for the first time and you immediately sense this is a real guesthouse, not a modern hostel. The building is a two-storey wooden cabin in the ski quarter, painted in dark tones with timber trim, signs in Japanese and English at the end of the walkway, and a small lobby that opens onto the lounge and the check-in desk where the host usually sits. There are several room types — 4-bed and 6-bed dorms (gender-separated in some periods), private doubles, and family rooms for 3 to 4 people. The dorm beds are traditional bunks without the privacy partitions you get at Hostel Tomar, but every bed has a lockable cabinet and a power outlet. The linen is clean and the mattresses are fine. Private rooms are small, with two singles or a double, a cabinet and a mirror. Bathrooms and showers are shared only — there are none in the private rooms — so anyone not used to shared facilities may find it less convenient, especially couples after full privacy. The decor leans on dark wood, brown and beige fabrics, with ski photos and old skiers' mementos hung on the walls. It feels more like a warm home than a packed hostel, and plenty of reviews praise how clean and welcoming it is despite the building's age.

Food and amenities

The heart of Alpine Backpackers is its host and common areas. The host is a Furano legend — a former skier and ski instructor who has traveled the world, speaks fluent English, and helps plan ski trips, points you to slopes that match your level, the good instructors, the well-priced rental shops, and local restaurants that are not tourist traps. Reviews single this out as the best thing about the place and the reason many guests come back; some have become friends with the host and return every year. The wood-toned lounge with its wood stove is where everyone gathers — sofas, a work table, a cafe counter, books and board games. In the evenings travelers from around the world sit and swap skiing stories. The shared kitchen has full cookware — stove, pots, pans, plates and cutlery, a microwave and a shared fridge — and there is a drying room for ski clothes and boots so your gear is dry by the next morning, plus a ground-floor ski gear storeroom. A small breakfast buffet is included in the rate: grilled fish, local vegetables, milk and yogurt, rice or soup, and fresh bread, better value and tastier than at most hostels. There is no on-site onsen, so for a soak you head to a public bathhouse in town — the host knows the best one and how to get there.

Location and getting there

Alpine Backpackers sits in the Kitanomine zone on the main ski side of Furano, just a 5-minute walk from the slopes and the Kitanomine Gondola — the closest of any hostel or guesthouse on this list. That puts it within reach for ski backpackers who want to ride every day without losing time on a bus. The walk to the slopes climbs a small hill, and winter snow can be slippery, so non-slip shoes help. The guesthouse has its own ski gear storeroom and boot-drying room, handy for stashing kit before you head to your room. JR Furano station is about a 7-minute drive away — close, but not walkable — so to reach town or catch a train you use the limited free shuttle or a taxi, which is not expensive. Small restaurants and bars dot the Kitanomine ski quarter within a 5-to-10-minute walk. For Farm Tomita in summer it is about 18 minutes by car; without a car you can take the train to Naka-Furano station or use the summer Twinkle Bus. From Asahikawa Airport (AKJ), take the bus to JR Asahikawa, transfer to a train down to JR Furano station, then a taxi or the free shuttle — roughly 2 hours in total.

Things to know before booking

To help you decide, here it is straight. First, the old building and furniture — the guesthouse has been open since 2000, and even after the 2015 expansion and renovation it still feels like an older wooden cabin. If you want something newer and more modern, Hostel Tomar (opened 2019, scoring 9.0) is the better fit. Second, the shared bathrooms — there are none in the private rooms, only shared bathrooms and showers, which may not suit everyone, especially couples who want full privacy. Look at Hotel Edel Warme, which has en-suite bathrooms at a similar price. Third, family suitability — the atmosphere here is geared to ski backpackers who want to meet other people, not to families with young children. If you are traveling as a family, consider Hotel Naturwald Furano, which has family rooms and an on-site onsen instead.

Our take

Having read through plenty of real guest reviews, Alpine Backpackers earns its pitch of "close to the slopes, a legendary host, and a log-cabin feel" fairly. If your trip in your head is grabbing your skis, walking 5 minutes to the slopes, riding all day, then coming back to talk by the wood stove with a host who used to be a skier and a world traveler, this is about as good as it gets. It suits ski backpackers, solo travelers, and anyone after that traditional log-cabin atmosphere best. But if you want something new and modern, an en-suite bathroom, or you are traveling as a family with young children, this may not be the answer — look at Hostel Tomar (newer) or Hotel Naturwald Furano (family) instead. Overall we give it 8.8/10 for a Furano institution that every ski backpacker should try once.