Annupuri’s Long-Overdue Gondola Gets a Major Upgrade
The quietest corner of Niseko United is finally getting the infrastructure boost it deserves. Hokkaido Chuo Bus Co., the company that runs Annupuri Resort, announced in June 2026 that the resort’s main gondola will be completely replaced before the start of the 2028/29 winter season.
The existing gondola has been carrying skiers and snowboarders up the mountain since 1985 — over four decades of service. Its six-person cabins feel noticeably dated compared to what neighbouring resorts now offer, and on busy days the queues at the base station have been a genuine frustration for guests.
The replacement will bring cabins capable of carrying 10 people at a time, and the ride to the summit will be faster too, shaving around 90 seconds off the journey. More meaningfully, the hourly capacity will more than double, jumping from 1,440 people per hour to 2,800. That’s a dramatic improvement that should all but eliminate the bottleneck that has long been the resort’s main weakness.
The timing puts Annupuri as the last of the four Niseko United resorts to modernise its primary lift. Hirafu and Niseko Village have both carried out significant upgrades in recent years, so this brings the whole interconnected area up to a more consistent standard. For a resort that already punches above its weight in terms of snow quality and atmosphere, removing the gondola queue problem could genuinely change how people plan their days on the mountain.
