I visited for the first time in a while, and was surprised to see how much it had developed, with a six-seater lift with food, heated seats, and footrests replaced with a ten-seater gondola with genuine leather seats. Probably more than 90% of the customers were foreign nationals, and there were almost no Japanese people at the restaurant EGDE at the foot of the mountain. The restaurant was very busy, and there was a bar attached, and the open, modern design with Western music playing made it very lively, reminding me of the potential fun of ski resorts. The food menu was Australian-style, including the pricing, and each plate was about 25 AUS$, but each plate was very filling, and the chips were very delicious. In Japan, we often hear negative news about the declining number of skiers and snowboarders, but when we come here, we can see that there is a huge global demand. This is why so many people come all the way from overseas. I would like to take a long vacation and come here to relax.

The arrangement of the surrounding hotels made me feel for a moment like I was at a ski resort overseas. Many foreigners use this resort. The ski resort is vast and connects to Grand Hirafu near the top of the course, so a whole day is not enough. The Hana 1 lift has been renovated to accommodate six people and is now a hooded lift. A new gondola has also been installed, and the seats are extremely comfortable. It feels like you're in a resort. Hokkaido has good snow quality, so this is definitely one ski resort you'll enjoy.

We did two tours with Hanazono: the private snowshoeing and then a horse riding tour. Between the two the snowshoeing is great and horseriding is good. Both guides are super super friendly. We had a huge blast. Though we are newbies to both we are made feeling confident and adventurous and accomplished at the end. Would 100% recommend. Only thing to note is the parking lot is very full so plan ahead to hunt for parking spot. Also if the resort have people to guide parking will be better since understandably many cars are not parked very efficiently.