Kids (7-14) Shredders – Group Snowboard Lessons

Alpine Shredders meet at 9:45am by the red flags at the on-snow meeting area at the base of the Champion #1 chairlift in Akakura Resort.

Your child’s instructor will check their ability and goals with them and with you. They will then match each day’s program to give them the the best possible experience, together with the other children in the group. If you have any special requests please let you child’s instructor know and they will be glad to accommodate. Supervised lunch is included each day at one of the restaurants in the Akakura Kanko Resort.

Due to the physical requirements involved in snowboarding, it is generally more challenging than skiing for children to learn. To help overcome this, the maximum number of children per snowboard group is 5 (skiing is 8), thus allowing each child to have more personal assistance from their instructor. The price is therefore higher to reflect the smaller group size.

The snowboarding progression can be a little slower than skiing. We therefore highly recommend a minimum 3-days of lessons in order for your child to develop the skills & confidence to have the best possible snowboarding experience.

We try to offer as much consistency as possible by keeping the same instructor with the same group each day. It is possible occasional changes may occur due to our weekly roster change-over, or if your child progresses at rate different to the rest of the group.

Alpine Shredders is run throughout the combined Akakura Kanko & Akakura Onsen resort areas.

A valid Akakura Kanko/Onsen lift pass is required for all participants. Lift tickets are not automatically included in the lesson cost, but are available for discounted purchase from Myoko Snowsports as an add-on to the program.

Our team of instructors will welcome children at the on-snow meeting area and check their general snowboarding ability level and goals. They will then join children into the most appropriate group to join from Level 1 (first time) to Level 5 (advanced). Alpine Shredders feature a maximum of 5 children per instructor.

For the best experience we recommend all children going into the appropriate level group, even if this means being apart from their friends or siblings, however if two children would like to stay together in the same group may do so. In this case they will be placed into a group of the ability level of the lower child. The stronger level child may find the group a little slow, but their instructor will give them more challenging things to try to continue having fun and improving.

The minimum age for Alpine Shredders is 7 years old. The reason for this is that children aged 6 years and younger generally do not yet have the physical development required to stand up on a snowboard and maneuver by themselves. We are glad to offer private snowboard lessons to children aged 6 and under, which will give them the personal attention required for snowboarding at this age.

Alpine Shredders is offered full-day only. The reason for this is the full-day allows the group to stay out on the mountain for the whole day and have lunch at one of the on-mountain restaurants, without wasting time returning to the meeting area. It also means children in groups progress at a similar rate to each other. If you would like time to ski/snowboard together with your child you can fit a few runs in from 8:30am to 9:45am. If you are skiing/snowboarding for 7 days you could book your child into Alpine Shredders for 5 or 6 days and then ski together on your final 1 or 2 days.

Program bookings of 5 days or more may include one rest day of your choosing if you would like. Please let your child’s instructor know the afternoon prior to your rest day so they know not to expect them the following morning.

Yes almost all dietary requirements can be catered for. Please advise your child’s instructor of the details at the morning 9:45am meeting time.

Please advise our reservations team when making your booking. Please also meet your child’s instructor at 9:45am on the meeting area and provide any relevant information to them. Epi-Pens should be placed in a zipped-pocket on your child for the duration of the program.

Both group and private lessons can be great depending on your goals and budget.

Private lessons are the best for quickest skill improvement and for meeting personal goals, but are a higher price.

Group programs are a great way to meet other skiers of a similar ability level during the program, and are a lower price.

Yes. All our instructors speak either native or fluent English and all lessons are run in English. We have a large number of instructors from around the world, as well as from Japan.

If you have a request for a private lesson in another language (French, German, Dutch, Swedish) please check with us for availability.

If you are interested in lesson programs run in Japanese please let our reservations team know and they can recommend another local Japanese snowsports school to you.

We recommend booking well-prior to your arrival to ensure availability, particularly from 20 December to mid-February. Please contact our team at akakura@myokosnowsports.com if you have any questions.