Hakuba Ski Rental, Snowboard Hire

There are a very good number of Hakuba ski rental and snowboard hire shops located at the base of each of the ski resorts and in some of the Hakuba hotels and pensions, although in some cases with the latter, it looks like they’re renting out gear from the pre-Olympics era!

A great pick for a Hakuba ski rental /snowboard shop is Central Snowsports which has three locations across Hakuba: in the heart of Happo near the Happo-One gondola; opposite the Sakka lifts (and main beginner area) in Upper Wadano; and in Echoland. They also offer a guest shuttle whereby they pick you up and drop you off to your accommodation. Central Snowsports have standard snowboard and ski rentals and clothing (pants, jackets, helmets) as well as high performance equipment and fat skis. You can pre-book your gear here.

Spicy Rentals has a few Hakuba ski hire shops with prime locations: Upper Wadano near the Sakka Slope; Central Happo; and Iwatake next to the gondola. You can pre-book your gear here - standard or high performance ski and snowboard equipment and clothing.

If you’re looking to rent ski touring gear, a splitboard and other backcountry equipment, check out Rhythm in Lower Wadano.

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Hakuba Ski School / Snowboard Lessons

There is a plethora of Hakuba ski schools spread across the valley, but the options narrow very quickly if you’re looking for a lesson in English, particularly for more affordable group lessons. And if you’re also looking for group lessons that you don’t need get a shuttle bus to or drive to from your accommodation, then there’s very slim pickings.

Evergreen Outdoor Center offers English speaking instructors for group ski or snowboard lessons at Happo One at the Kokusai slope for children (aged 3+) and adults in either a half day or full day format. If you’re looking for Hakuba accommodation near the ski school, those on the left hand side of this map of Lower Wadano lodging are close by, but note that this accommodation generally sells out well in advance.

Evergreen also conducts adult and kids (7+) group lessons at Tsugaike (skiing only), with most lessons meeting at the gondola where there are various Tsugaike accommodation options close by. Evergreen also provides powder clinics and on-mountain guiding. Evergreen also provides private snowsports lessons at Iwatake, Tsugaike and Cortina.

Hakuba Snowsports is based at the Iimori slope of Goryu, and you could stay at the Hakuba Sun Valley Hotel or the annexe if you wanted easy access to this ski school. Otherwise, there isn’t a lot of lodging nearby and you’ll have get a shuttle or drive there. If you’re staying in Goryu accommodation near the Toomi base, you can catch a bus from the Toomi to Iimori side or get a Toomi lift up and ski down to the meeting spot (if not complete novices). This Goryu ski school offers group lessons at Goryu only, for beginners through to advanced levels. Group lessons are available for children aged 5-12 years for skiing and 7-12 years for snowboarding. Ages 3 and 4 can have private lessons. Private lessons are also available for other age groups at Goryu or other Hakuba ski areas. A transport service is provided for full day private lessons or 1-way transport service for half day lessons.

The Hakuba 47 Ski Academy International offers ski & snowboarding lessons at Hakuba 47, in both a private or group lesson format. There is no lodging at the base, so you need to get a shuttle or drive to Hakuba 47 Ski Resort.

Frontier operates from Norikura Ski Resort and offers some group ski or snowboard lessons in English as well as private lessons.

Hakuba Ski Concierge also operates out of Hakuba 47 and can offer private lessons at any of the Hakuba ski areas. Their bespoke services include door to door transport.
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Hakuba Services

Physio Services

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Hakuba Child Care & Family Friendliness

As Hakuba is so spread out there are slim chances of child minding or kids ski school (in a group format) being near your accommodation, so it can be challenging to get the kids to ski school and/or childcare if you don’t have a car, especially if the parents want to ski/ride at a different ski area.

Hakuba isn’t as child friendly as it used to be, in part because Evergreen have ceased to provide childcare at Happo One and they no longer provide their own ski school shuttle. See the “Lessons” tab for information on snowsports schools.

Other Hakuba daycare centres have also ceased services. For example, the childcare at Cortina at the Green Plaza Hotel is no longer in operation.

Maimai (Hakuba International Preschool) used to operate in the Snow Plaza Building of the Sakka slope at Happo One, but have moved to a zone near the Matsu River between Iwatake and Happo One, so you’d want to have access to a vehicle. Maimai offers reasonably priced daycare services for ages 3 months up to elementary school age.

Hakuba Goryu Daycare could be a good childcare option for those staying in Goryu accommodation, and is for ages 1 to 5. It is located in the Escal Plaza at the Toomi base of Goryu Ski Resort (note that the international snowsports school operates at the other base of Goryu). Capacity is very limited and as it doesn’t start until 9am and has a 1 hour break for lunch whereby parents have to pick up the children, it may not provide much freedom for parents to ski anywhere other than Goryu and the interconnected Hakuba 47 ski areas.

There are a couple of Hakuba babysitting and nanny services that provide child minding at your accommodation. You could try Hakuba Babysitting, although it doesn’t start until 9am so you can forget first tracks. It’s rather expensive and if you’re staying in Tsugaike, Norikura, or Cortina, it attracts an additional shuttle fee.

Another option is Mommy Smile Babysitting which starts at 8am, and is more reasonably priced depending on the number of children.

Banking Facilities

Whilst the acceptance of credit cards has increased at Hakuba, there are some businesses such as restaurants that only accept cash. You could cash up with yen at home using a postal service currency exchange, use an ATM at the Narita or Haneda Airport, or use one of the ATMs in Hakuba, although don’t expect these to be plentiful.

There’s an ATM at the post office in the town of Hakuba which is a significant inconvenience if that’s the only reason for travelling there (although it is worth popping into town to check it out). The ATM at the post office is open most nights until 7pm and it gives out big amounts of money (of course only if you have big amounts of money in your account!).

There is also an ATM at the 7-Eleven stores in the Misorano and Iwatake areas, and an ATM at the Happo Information Centre.