FAQ - AOMORI

BOOKINGS & CANCELLATIONS TERMS

Yes, full payment is required to confirm your booking with us.

  • 60 Days or more prior to arrival date: Full refund
  • 30-59 Days prior to arrival date: 70% refund
  • 15-29 Days prior to arrival date: 50% refund
  • 14 Days prior to arrival date: No refund

For all cancellations, a SGD 75 processing fee (per person) will be required.

GENERAL ENQUIRIES BEFORE BOOKING YOUR TRIP

GENERAL TRIP DETAILS

Yes, a minimum age of 18yrs is required if you are joining our trips alone.

Yes, all trip dates are fixed and bookings will follow the specified dates strictly. Amendments to trip dates will not be permitted.

Yes, to stay with us 2 weeks in a row, simply make a booking for 2 trips. We know 1 week might not be enough to satisfy your powder cravings.

While we would love to share the stoke and show as many as we can around, we will not be able to allow others to tag along with us on the slopes. This is to ensure the best experience to all paying guests. The Ride Side’s hosted and guided sessions around the slopes are the most valuable part of our trip experience and what our customers are paying for. We need to ensure we keep to a good ‘guide to guest ratio’ for safe and fun time on the mountain.

If you are looking to be shown around the slopes with a fun group of like-minded individuals, we would love to have you book the trip with us and come along for the ride!

FLIGHTS & AIRPORT TRANSFERS

Each traveller is responsible for their own flight bookings and you may book flights based on your own preferences. 

All flights should be made to Aomori Airport (AOJ), Shinkansen/Train to Shin Aomori Station

By Train

  • JR train/ bullet train from Tokyo <> Shin Aomori Station

By Flight

  • Fly into Tokyo then take a domestic flight Haneda (HND) <> Aomori Airport (AOJ)
  • Fly international SIN > TPE > Aomori (overnight layover in TPE)


Please take note of the airport shuttle schedule to and from Aomori Airport (AOJ) – Details in next point below. You should plan your flight arrival and departure timings to best match these.

ARRIVAL
Airport Shuttle Pick-up schedule* (AOJ – Aomori Spring):
  • Shuttle:
    • AOJ Airport (4:00PM)
    • Shin Aomori Station (4:30PM)

*Shuttle timings are subjected to change based on available flight schedules. If you require shuttles outside this timing, you may let us know to make alternative arrangements

  • Shuttle Duration: Approx 1.5hrs
  • Flight recommendation: 
    • To arrive at Aomori Airport by 3pm
    • To arrive at Shin Aomori Station by 4:15PM
DEPARTURE

Airport Shuttle Pick-up schedule* (Aomori Spring – Aomori Airport (AOJ)/Shin Aomori Station):

  • Shuttle departure: 10AM (Aomori Spring)
    • Arrival at Shin Aomori Station by 11:30am
    • Arrival at Aomori Airport by 12pm

*Shuttle timings are subjected to change based on available flight schedules. If you require shuttles outside this timing, you will be required to book a taxi as shuttles are not available outside these timings. This will cost approximately JPY15,000 per one way.

  • Shuttle Duration: Approx 1.5hrs
  • Flight recommendation:
    • To depart Shin Aomori Station after 12pm
    • To depart Aomori Airport after 1.30pm

GEAR RENTAL & LESSONS

Ski & snowboard rentals are not included in the package price. You will be given the option to book them before your trip based on what you require. (more details to come in August 2023)

Please see full equipment rental prices here.

If you are unsure of your size, please leave an indicative size to the best of your knowledge, our team will help you with recommendations and fitting services on the ground.

IMPORTANT: Personal gear such as Goggles, Facemasks, & Gloves are not available for rental. It is recommended to purchase them prior to the trip if you do not have them. These items are available to purchase at The Ride Side in Singapore at your convenience.

Directions to :The Ride Side Snowboard Shop

We will NOT be arranging lessons during the Aomori Experience as the resort itself does not have any English-speaking instructors. 

If you are looking to improve your riding with lessons in Aomori, we recommend considering our Aomori Beginner Camp or Aomori Intermediate Camp instead. These trips have been designed for learning with our English-speaking instructors that will provide lessons for the group.

ACCOMMODATION

Yes you may! This trip is designed for solo travellers to meet other like minded travellers and about 50% of our customers come as solo travellers. Simply book your trip and leave the rest of the planning to us. Once you reach your destination, you will meet the rest of the group that you will be spending the rest of the week with.

Single bed in a twin share room

You will share the room with another solo traveller. We will make arrangements to group travellers of the same gender together in the same room. In the event we are unable to do so, we will inform you of the rooming situation to find the most comfortable arrangement for you.

Yes you may put in a request for a female only room. If you are looking to book a twin share room and would prefer an all-female room, please leave a note in the comments field of your booking form. Our team will get back to you with a confirmation on the arrangement as soon as we can.

Yes you can! The accommodation comes with twin rooming configurations of 2pax. If you have a group in multiples of 2 pax, simply let us know and we’ll be able to allocate the rooms according to your preference.

MEAL ARRANGEMENTS

Breakfast & Dinner

(i) Complimentary buffet breakfast and dinner is provided for throughout the trip

Lunch

(i) Dining options will be limited compared to other popular Japanese resorts, however, you will still have a choice of several cafes and restaurants in the hotel and around the resort, ranging from hot bowls of ramen to rice bowls, buffet spreads and even burgers. Our team will bring you to some of our favourite spots around the area each day as we ensure you have the best of local cuisine throughout the week.

Yes, there are 2 restaurants and a bar in our hotel accommodation, several others within a walking distance of our accommodation.

  • The Rockwood Bistro
  • The Rockwood Food Hall
  • Iwaki Cafe & Bar
  • The Ramen House
  • Mountain Cafe

The daily buffet spread by Aomori Spring Resort is not halal-certified but they do have vegetarian options within the buffet. For other dietary restrictions, it is best to confirm with the respective food operators as we are unable to further advise.

TRIP PROGRAMMING

AOMORI HOSTED EXPERIENCE

  • 7 nights ski-in ski-out accommodation
  • 2-way airport transfers
  • Daily transport to up to 5 ski areas in Tohoku region
  • 6-day lift pass to Aomori Springs
  • Daily breakfast & Dinner buffet
  • Daily [AM] mountain guiding
 
 
  • Flights
  • Equipment rental
  • Food & personal expenses
  • Lift pass at external resorts (Outside Aomori Spring)
  • Travel Insurance

Yes, beginners are welcome to join the Aomori hosted experience. We recommend that you are, at the very minimum, comfortable making turns down a green slope. However, please do note that for our daily guiding sessions, we will aim to take the group to explore all around the resort. This means that there will be some intermediate-level (red) terrain that we will have to go through. Depending on your skill level and ability, there might be certain guiding sessions where you might not be able to join in. Your guide for the day will advise you on the difficulty level of the routes and will let you know if your ability will be suitable for the session.

If you are still new to skiing/snowboarding, we highly recommend you join the Aomori Beginner Snowboard Camp or Aomori Beginner Ski Camp. In this camp, you will have a group of riders with similar abilities to learn with and explore the mountain throughout the week. You will also be able to fully enjoy your time in Aomori as your instructor will take you to gentler, more suitable terrain to learn and progress on. These reasons will make your trip a lot more enjoyable and fruitful for you. You will still be able to hang out with the others in the Aomori experience after lessons or anytime off the slopes

Throughout each week, you will meet skiers and snowboarders of all skill levels within the group. They range from beginners all the way to seasoned advanced riders. Regardless of your skill level, you’d be sure to find a group similar to yours to explore the incredible terrain of Aomori together.

The only exception to this would be if you are a complete first-timer or new beginner still figuring out your S-turns. If you fall into this category, we highly recommend you join the Aomori Beginner Snowboard Camp or the Aomori Beginner Ski Camp.

In this camp, you will have a group of riders with similar abilities to learn with and explore the mountain with throughout the week. You will also be able to fully enjoy your time in Aomori as your instructor will take you to gentler, more suitable terrain to learn and progress on. These reasons will make your trip a lot more enjoyable and fruitful for you.

Each morning, the TRS team will set meeting points to meet up and to take you around the ski resorts of Aomori and introduce you to the unique runs and highlights of each resort. Each day will be a different route to show you as much of the resort as we can throughout the week. The group will also be split up according to skill levels to ensure everyone explores terrain suitable to their ability and to ensure everyone gets more riding with less waiting!

If you are an advanced level rider, you will be able to explore majority of the mountain as well as off-piste & backcountry powder runs. If you are not yet comfortable in off piste terrain, your exploration might be limited to your proficiency on the slopes. Do ask your guide on the suitability of the day’s terrain and skill level.

There will be up to 5 days of mountain guiding per week. Each session will be a half day morning session from 9am -12pm.

The daily guiding sessions are not compulsory to join in and you may choose to explore the resort on your own. There are no obligations to stay with the group for the entire trip.

By all means, however, transport to and fro the mountain may have to be arranged by you as the larger group of the team and guests may be preoccupied.

Skiers are definitely welcome in our Aomori Hosted Experience! 

Lessons and rentals can be added on! Simply indicate your rental and lesson needs in the form that will be made available through the trip reservation process! (details to come in August 2023)

AOMORI BEGINNER SNOWBOARD CAMP

  • 7 nights ski-in ski-out accommodation
  • 2-way airport transfers
  • Daily transport to up to 5 ski areas in Tohoku region
  • 6-day lift pass to Aomori Spring
  • 5 full day beginner snowboard lesson programme
  • Daily breakfast & dinner buffet
  • Flights
  • Equipment rental
  • Food & personal expenses
  • Lift pass at external resorts (Outside Aomori Spring)
  • Travel Insurance

Each class will have a maximum of 6 students per instructor. Instructors may shift students between classes based on each individual’s progress to ensure similar ability levels in each class. This will help students build confidence and create an environment for effective learning.

Throughout the beginner camp, you will learn all the basics of snowboarding—this includes basic snowboard gear knowledge, taking the chairlift safely, and all the way to making turns down a beginner slope.

The first 2 days are always the most challenging and from here on out, you’ll see improvements and progression a lot quicker. You will start to really understand the movements and techniques required and this is when you will really start to enjoy snowboarding and understand why so many are addicted to it.

For those who progress quickly, your instructor will bring you to explore steeper terrain and you’ll get to see the different terrain features of the resort. You’ll be amazed at the vastness of this amazing resort and understand why we head back here year after year.

Yes, if you feel you want to learn to ride your way, you may ride on your own.

However, we recommend staying within the lessons as much as possible so our instructors can better advise on your riding. Plus, it’s also more fun to learn together!

Of course! Those days will be free and easy—those who want to rest can kick back at the lodge and those who want to go harder on the slopes can feel free to do so! 

The day trip schedules will depend on a week-to-week basis, due to potential weather conditions, or as mutually agreed by the group. 

Unfortunately, in order to cater for the best experience for all parties, we are unable to provide spots for skiers in our Beginner Snowboard Camp.

 

The good news is that we have a Beginner Ski Camp in Aomori, so sign up now! This camp will make the best use of your time on the slopes to help you pick up skiing in the easiest way!

AOMORI BEGINNER SKI CAMP

  • 7 nights ski-in ski-out accommodation
  • 2-way airport transfers
  • Daily transport to up to 5 ski areas in Tohoku region
  • 6-day lift pass to Aomori Spring
  • 5 full day beginner ski lesson programme
  • Daily breakfast & dinner buffet
  • Flights
  • Equipment rental
  • Food & personal expenses
  • Lift pass at external resorts (Outside Aomori Spring)
  • Travel Insurance

Each class will have a maximum of 6 students per instructor. Instructors may shift students between classes based on each individual’s progress to ensure similar ability levels in each class. This will help students build confidence and create an environment for effective learning.

Throughout the beginner camp, you will learn all the basics of skiing—this includes basic ski gear knowledge, taking the chairlift safely, and all the way to making turns down a beginner slope.

The first 2 days are always the most challenging and from here on out, you’ll see improvements and progression a lot quicker. You will start to really understand the movements and techniques required and this is when you will really start to enjoy snowboarding and understand why so many are addicted to it.

For those who progress quickly, your instructor will bring you to explore steeper terrain and you’ll get to see the different terrain features of the resort. You’ll be amazed at the vastness of this amazing resort and understand why we head back here year after year.

Yes, if you feel you want to learn to ride your way, you may ride on your own.

However, we recommend staying within the lessons as much as possible so our instructors can better advise on your riding. Plus, it’s also more fun to learn together!

You can certainly write in to request that you and your friends be grouped together.

However, if your group has less than 6 people, we might have to squeeze someone else in, depending on necessity and availability.

Of course! Those days will be free and easy—those who want to rest can kick back at the lodge and those who want to go harder on the slopes can feel free to do so! 

The day trip schedules will depend on a week-to-week basis, due to potential weather conditions, or as mutually agreed by the group. 

Unfortunately, in order to cater for the best experience for all parties, we are unable to provide spots for snowboarders in our Beginner Ski Camp.

The good news is that we have a Beginner Snowboard Camp in Aomori, so sign up now! This camp will make the best use of your time on the slopes to help you pick up skiing in the easiest way!

AOMORI INTERMEDIATE SNOWBOARD CAMP

  • 7 nights ski-in ski-out accommodation
  • 2-way airport transfers
  • Daily transport to up to 5 ski areas in Tohoku region
  • 6-day lift pass to Aomori Spring & external resorts
  • 5 full day lesson and guiding
  • Daily breakfast & dinner buffet
  • Flights
  • Equipment rental
  • Food & personal expenses
  • Travel Insurance

Each class will have a maximum of 6 students per instructor. Instructors may shift students between classes based on each individual’s progress to ensure similar ability levels in each class. This will help students build confidence and create an environment for effective learning.

For this camp, we’ll focus on building your confidence to take on everything the mountain throws at you, while refining your techniques to ensure you will have the smoothest experience no matter what terrain you ride.

Yes, if you feel you want to learn to ride your way, you may ride on your own.

However, we recommend staying within the lessons as much as possible so our instructors can better advise on your riding. Plus, it’s also more fun to learn together!

Of course! Those days will be free and easy—those who want to rest can kick back at the lodge and those who want to go harder on the slopes can feel free to do so! 

The day trip schedules will depend on a week-to-week basis, due to potential weather conditions, or as mutually agreed by the group. 

Unfortunately, in order to cater for the best experience for all parties, we are unable to provide spots for skiers in this trip.

 

The good news is that we have a Beginner Ski Camp in Aomori, so sign up now! This camp will make the best use of your time on the slopes to help you pick up skiing in the easiest way!

AOMORI ADVANCED CAMP

  • 7 nights ski-in ski-out accommodation
  • 2-way airport transfers
  • Daily transport to up to 5 ski areas in Tohoku region
  • 6-day lift pass to Aomori Spring
  • 5 full day guiding
  • Daily breakfast & dinner buffet
  • Flights
  • Equipment rental
  • Food & personal expenses
  • Lift pass at external resorts (Outside Aomori Spring)
  • Travel Insurance

Yes the Advanced Camp will bring you to the amazing sights and terrain we explore during our Aomori Expedition trip last season!

For this Advanced Camp, snowboarding/skiing veterans will get to experience the best of what we’ve come to love about Aomori, such as the majestic Hakkoda tree monster runs and more hidden gems!

To join the Aomori Advanced Camp, we require all riders to be a high intermediate to advanced level rider. This means that you should be comfortable turning down a black slope at the very least. As we will also aim to take the group off-piste and into powder fields, having basic experience in off-piste terrain will be an added bonus and you’ll be sure to enjoy yourself much more. 

If you are still not 100% comfortable navigating down black terrain, we recommend considering our Aomori Beginner Camp or Aomori Intermediate Camp instead. These trips have been designed for learning with our English-speaking instructors that will provide lessons for the group.

All riders joining should be between a high intermediate to advanced level. This means that every should be comfortable navigating down a black slope at the very least. As we will also aim to take the group off-piste and into powder fields, having some experience in off-piste terrain will be an added bonus and you’ll be sure to enjoy yourself more.

TRS team will set meeting points to meet up and take you around the selected ski resort. Each day will be a different route to show you as much of the resort as we can throughout the week. 

The group will also be split up according to skill levels to ensure everyone explores terrain suitable to their ability and to ensure everyone gets more riding with less waiting!

There will be up to 5 days of mountain guiding per week. Each session will be a half day morning session from 9am -12pm.

The daily guiding sessions are not compulsory to join in and you may choose to explore the resort on your own. There are no obligations to stay with the group for the entire trip.

The day trip schedules will depend on a week-to-week basis, due to potential weather conditions, or as mutually agreed by the group. 

Yes! The focus of this Advanced Camp will be to ride fast, ride hard, and ride fun. Therefore, we will need all participants to be adept riders in their chosen disciplines, whether they ski or snowboard. 

For beginners looking to learn, the good news is that we have a Beginner Ski Camp in Aomori, so sign up now! This camp will make the best use of your time on the slopes to help you pick up skiing in the easiest way!

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