Evergreen International Ski School (Happo)

Very happy with Evergreen. The booking process for my private snowboard lessons was smooth and well-organized. I had a great experience learning with Coach Aron Drinic. I had never been on a snowboard before, but on day one I was already riding, learning heel-side control and how to stop safely, thanks to his clear guidance. Safety was always emphasized, and he patiently taught me how to properly get on and off the chairlift, which helped build my confidence on the mountain. He was very patient and adjusted the lesson pace based on my progress, and his explanations were always clear and easy to follow. I initially booked 4 days (2 days of 6 hours and 2 days of 4 hours) but enjoyed the experience and my progress so much that I extended with an additional 4-hour session. Over the lessons, I progressed to toe-side riding, linking turns, and even trying some basic tricks. My husband watched some of the lessons and was impressed by how quickly I progressed in just a few days. Highly recommend Evergreen and Coach Aron, especially if you're starting from zero experience. Huge thanks again for the great coaching!

I had a positive experience with Evergreen and would recommend it, especially as a beginner and first timer. I found it cost effective since location is good, logistics are convenient (shuttle buses from Echoland, the school is right beside the beginners slope, they have lockers of several sizes, there’s a vegan cafe on the back…) and instruction was amazing. I was incredibly lucky with my instructor and group. I highlight the luck aspect because you can’t choose instructor for group classes, but still I got an instructor was kind, dedicated and pretty good at detecting what each person could fix in their technique. The group learned pretty much at the same pace, which is not always the case, and at the end of the 2,5 h class, the instructor confirmed we had covered all the basics (turn, stop, increase/decrease speed, stand up…) and encouraged us to try, if we felt confident, the beginners slope. I didn’t thought I would get the skill or confidence until class 2 or 3. However, I had shorter, more casual interactions with other instructors that weren’t that kind and a classmate let me know our class together was her second and that she felt these explanations and help with the technique were clearer, so again, it’s a matter of luck. Extremely relevant: I was traveling alone and while skiing, I hit my head hard at some point. It was scary, and the Evergreen staff was incredibly supportive, helping me ensure I was okay and could make my trip back home safe. I highly encourage beginners to book classes and have a school at hand for orientation in any circumstances. And I think Evergreen is pretty good for that.

Fabulous ski ⛷️ experience! The instructors were really professional and nice. The first 2 day in Tsugaike, beginner lesson started with Simon, he quickly analysed my level based on our chitchat, and switched me to Billy’s group, to have a better experience at my level. Billy was very helpful as it’s been quite a long time since last ski. They for sure take good care of everyone in the group. The second day of as private lesson with Goof, I conquered my fear of steepness and skied the intermediate slop the whole day, I’m super happy of the progress. Last lesson was in Happo, even though the snow was not ideal, the instructor managed to analyse and group us. It was a fantastic experience!

Our kids had so much fun taking part in the ski lessons, although the three of them went to different groups on the first two days due to age and experience differences. The oldest one—12 years old—went with the green group and had fun mingling with other kids of similar age and experience. The program was also well structured, allowing kids enough time to rest and fuel up. We also appreciate that the coaches would assess the kids' ability and reassign them to different groups if necessary as it's sometimes hard to fully align with the groups' descriptions. We engaged Evergreen trainers for two days of group lessons and one day private lesson at Iwatake resort as we wanted the kids (and us, too) to experience different scenery. We also did comparison when researching for ski lessons for kids, and Evergreen offers one of the most comprehensive programs for various levels, with reasonable rates.

The instructors at evergreen ski school are fantastic. I had never skied before this trip and with the help of the instructors I was able to ski confidently and start doing parallel turns in 4 days. I highly recommend that you take lessons at this ski school if you are new to the sport as the instructors will be able to provide you with the best tips and drills to improve. I did 3.5 days of lessons and all the ski instructors that took lessons were awesome. I would like to thank Rasmus and Fred from Denmark in particular. A tip from me is to get lessons at evergreen tsugaike instead of Happo if you are first time/beginner level as the terrain at tsugaike is much more forgiving and offers great progression.

Had two fantastic lessons with Matty. He was able to assess my ability quickly and gave me great tips to improve my turns. I regained confidence and although I’m only a ‘green run’ skier I really enjoyed my experience at Hakuba. Also had a great lesson with James. Both were super instructors and also guides which was essential for me skiing in a new resort. As an added bonus Matty spotted a snow monkey while we were on the chairlift in Sakka. Here’s a photo. Thanks!

Evergreen was amazing and very accommodating to our requirements, book and dealt with via email professionally. Also promptly responding to my questions and were very helpful. We booked a 5hr private lesson and got Matt M. The first half of the session was with my kids, 6yo and 7yo, first time snowboarding. The second half of the session was with me as a refresher and we achieved the goals I wanted out of the lesson. Great tips and learnings for me! Matt was amazing with the kid, very patient and using fun terminology/technique to engage them. My kids loved it and wanted to continue with Matt again after lunch. Thanks Matt for the kids first intro snowboarding experience!

Our family of 4 booked our full ski day 4 months in advance and we had an absolute blast. Highly recommend this ski school and its instructors. We had Ben Cockram for the day and he is the best instructor we have met so far in 3 countries. MUCH MUCH Better than the ones in USA and Australia by miles! We feel so safe with him and his instruction gave us the confidence to finally ski down a green slope - so so happy with this experience. Super professional and such a good price compared to Australia! Please give them a try and do book EARLY! We will be back for sure!!