2009.04.29

RENTALS AND LESSONS

RENTALS

We recommend Central snow sports for all your ski rental needs.

They have great gear at competitive prices and fantastic service. They will pick you up at your accommodation, bring you down to the shop, fit you out and then bring you back to the lodge or you can go straight out skiing and they’ll bring back your shoes to your accommodation.

You can book in gear on arrival or to avoid disappointment they have an online booking system.

BUYING GEAR IN JAPAN

For those looking to buy gear in Japan, there are some surprisingly good deals to be found, especially as the season progresses. In fact, by late January prices have fallen significantly and by March are approaching half-price. For those of you from the Southern-hemisphere, this means you can buy stuff that hasn’t even been released in Australia or N.Z. yet at big discounts!!

There are a few good shops here in Hakuba and if your itinerary takes you through Tokyo, a visit to Ochanomizu is a must. A short walk from Ochanomizu station (on the Sobu line) is a kilometer long street lined with nothing but ski and snowboard shops often with great deals……a skier or snowboarder’s bargain wonderland!

LESSONS & GUIDING SERVICES

There are a handful of different places offering lessons and guiding services in Hakuba. For our guests skiing at Happo we recommend Evergreen Outdoor Center.

They’re about a 4 minute walk from us (in the Mominoki Hotel complex) and have quality services in English and Japanese and a whole range of stuff for kids! We can help you organize your lessons once at the lodge, however, Evergreen is very popular and we strongly advise booking in advance.

Evergreen also offers an excellent Backcountry guiding service. This is a great way to get in some pristine powder and immerse yourselves in the full beauty of the mountains.

Along with the lessons and guiding, some other services of interest they offer are snowshoeing tours and backcountry/avalanche awareness courses. The Evening Snowshoe and Fondue tour is highly-recommended!

For more info about Evergreen check out http://www.evergreen-hakuba.com/, call them at (0261)72-5150 or even better walk down there and talk face to face.

For Guests skiing at Goryu/Iimori and Hakuba 47 there is the excellent Hakuba snowsports staffed with all professional instructors. For private lessons they will pick you up at your accommodation and for group lessons it’s an easy shuttle bus ride away. We get excellent reviews on the tuition standards for these guys!