First time SB. To reserve or not to reserve gear?

G’day,

My wife and I are heading to hakuba for a week. Never been to the snow and we’re keen to try snowboarding out. I’m just wondering if people would recommend booking/reserving rental gear before we arrive? Was thinking of going with spicy.. Anyone got anycomments on their hire gear.

Thanks for any and all advice. ^_^

Hey, Hakuba has an onsite gear rental shop - You shouldn’t worry about it too much theres plenty to go around

They also have lockers you can hire, so you could store your gear there, if you have a small car or don’t like the idea of carrying them around.

No need to pre book rentals unless you require larger sizes, say anything bigger than a size 12 boot.
If you get stuck at the resort there is an aussie guy near Hakuba station that specialises in larger size boards and boots.
Look for the Boarding Co. A few doors down from the MacDonald’s along the highway.

Also if you need lessons, I believe Goryu/47 and Happo are the only 2 places that offer lessons in English.

Hey antisense,

Welcome to the community!

I’ll agree with what everyone else said; you shouldn’t need to reserve anything unless you require specialised gear. Te rental shops are stocked with gear, so there won’t be any issues.

If you’re interested in seeing some of my photos from Hakuba, I posted photos into this thread: https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/856/

Have a great time in Japan!

Thanks for your helpful and welcoming replies

Much apreciated ! ^_^

Oh and Spicy Rentals can be hit and miss. Some of their gear is new, and some of it is ancient, you can usually tell just by looking.
Even as a beginner really old gear (from the early 80s) will be detrimental to your progress.
I don’t think I have seen any Burton LTR in Hakuba, Learn To Ride is an awesome beginner setup, your best bet would be either 47 or Goryuu as they have lessons in English as well. Can’t recommend lessons enough, especially in Japan, where terrain can be too flat to learn on.

When do you head over antisense?
I will be there mid Feb!!

Thanks kneeboard.

Gonna be there from Feb 2nd to 8th.

Hey as a side question… As it’s gonna be my first time to the snow and snowbaording, would you guys recommend buying some padded shorts? Was thinking of the one sold at s3performance.com.au, but don’t know if it’s over the top or not. Seems a little silly to be sepnding money on something I’m only gonna use for 5 days, but on the other hand it would probably make learning more enjoyble

Cheers ^_^

Padded shorts aren’t a bad idea, especially for your first few days snowboarding. Caught edges are common, as is a sore tailbone/butt. What’s more important however, is wrist guards. Broken/sprained wrists are the most common injury for beginner snowboarders. So if you pick up one piece of protective gear, make sure it’s wrist guards.

Please have a read through our ‘HOW TO RIDE’ articles with video. Start at the top with ‘Balanced Body Position’ and work your way down to ‘Basic Turns’. If you can gain an understanding of the content and visualise the techniques, I guarantee you will progress a lot faster than if you just went into a lesson.

Balanced Body Position: https://www.boardworld.com.au/snow/content/category/balanced-body-position/

Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers for the advice

I looked at the tutorials here the other day, very cool. I’ve also found the videos at snowprofessor.com are really helpfull. Possibly the best free tutorials I’ve found so far.

I’ll let you guys know how I go :D