Rhythm Rides T&Cs

Payment of your lesson or tour (either via a third-party agent or directly to Rhythm Japan) constitutes acceptance of all terms and conditions listed for all parties participating in Rhythm Rides lessons or guiding (named or otherwise).

Payment of your lesson or tour (either via a third-party agent or directly to Rhythm Japan) constitutes acceptance of all Rhythm Japan and Flywire terms and conditions listed for all parties participating in Rhythm Rides lessons or guiding and/or Summer Tours Niseko products (named or otherwise).

Flywire is the Payment platform that facilitates online payment transactions for Rhythm Japan.

Flywire Terms and Conditions

Lift passes are not included with any lesson or guiding product. They are required to be purchased separately for the duration of the lesson or guided product, when accessing a resort area. 

No refund will be given for any unused portion of lift passes.

Please arrive in suitable warm and waterproof gear for your activity, with a valid lift ticket five minutes before your scheduled lesson/tour time. All lessons/tours start at the scheduled time and lessons/tours cannot be extended or rescheduled following the late arrival of a guest for any reason.

All parties agree that they have valid travel insurance that covers the snowsports/outdoor activity being participated in. Please note, guests are responsible for their own medical expenses including rescue fees when accessing terrain outside of the resort boundaries.

Rhythm Rides lessons and guiding may be recorded by a Rhythm sponsored photographer/videographer. Customers acknowledge that they and their party’s likeness may appear in future print or digital media without remuneration.

Offer: 20% discount for bookings of three days + for winter 25/26 bookings

Applicable to: Rides full-day or 4-hr AM lessons/guiding & Experiences packages

Booking dates: 1st May - 31st July

Blackout dates: 21st Dec - 3rd Jan & 15th - 21st Feb

Early Bird T&Cs:

• The early bird promotion can not be combined with any other offer
• The early bird 20% discount on Experiences packages is only applicable to the Rhythm Rides and rentals components of the package. No discount can be applied to retail, or third party inclusions
• Booking must be confirmed, and deposit received by 31st July 2025
• Not applicable to group travel bookings
• Not applicable to Futures seasonal program

Skiing, snowboarding and other mountain sports are high-risk activities.

Rhythm Japan and its employees cannot be held liable for accidents or injuries, including serious bodily harm or injury resulting in death that occurs before, during or after your guide or tour.

All those who partake in a Rhythm Rides Lesson or Guiding product will indemnify Rhythm Japan, its employees, affiliates and agents from all actions, suits, claims for damage and demands for personal injury, loss or damage.

Therefore, anyone participating in Rhythm Rides Lessons or Guiding services provided by Rhythm Japan is agreeing to:

• Not hold Rhythm Japan legally responsible

• Not sue or make claims against Rhythm Japan, its employees, affiliates, or agents

• Take personal responsibility for any injuries or damages that might occur during the activity

A deposit of 20% is required within seven days of the booking.

The remaining 80% is due at least seven days before the lesson/tour date.

• Up until seven days prior, a full refund will be provided for any reason.

• From seven days prior until 48 hours prior a 20% cancellation fee will be incurred.

• Within 48 hours of the booked lesson/tour date a 100% cancellation fee will be incurred.

• No compensation can be made for the loss of tour time due to injury or illness if the lesson or tour has commenced. 

• A 100% refund or lesson/tour reschedule is possible upon receipt of a valid medical certificate, a reschedule or refund of future lessons is possible, on the condition that:

  • We are advised at least one hour before your lesson/tour is due to commence.

  • Rhythm must receive the valid medical certificate within 24 hours of the cancelled/missed lesson.

• We reserve the right to cancel any reservations that do not meet our booking terms or have not been paid by the due date.

• Flywire may charge additional processing fees, including up to 1% of the refund amount.

In the event of extreme weather that has caused the resort to cease operations or the safety of the tour is at risk, we will offer a reschedule or refund of the lesson/tour

• A 100% refund  is only available at the discretion of the manager  for lessons/tours that have not commenced.
• A partial refund for the unused portion of lessons/tours that had already commenced.
• No compensation is available if suitable terrain is accessible for the booked lesson or tour.

Our program is offered at a fixed price for the entire season regardless of how many days you can attend during the season.  We are unable to offer pro-rata refunds or rescheduled lessons due to missed program days.

We will offer a refund or reschedule only for the following reasons:

• The training session has been cancelled by Rhythm Futures.

• There is a season-ending injury – a valid medical certificate is required.

Exceptions due to mountain closure

If we deem the conditions unsuitable to train in, we may decide to postpone a training day. In this instance, we will first look to reschedule the session to another suitable day, or if this is not possible we will provide a pro-rata refund.

Mixed discipline private lessons are not available.

Mixed Abilities

There can be no more than two ability levels in difference between lesson participants. For example levels two and three could take a lesson together, but levels three and five could not.

Mixed-age lessons

We are happy to accommodate lessons that include mixed age lessons (adults and children) to ensure you’re able to enjoy your time on the mountain as a family. However, we typically do not recommend children under 7 join lessons with adults due to the difference in learning style, ability and speed. Please contact our guest services team to discuss your options and ensure your goals are achievable prior to making a reservation.

Children 6 years and under

For children 6 and under we recommend the following maximum lesson sizes:

• 5-6 years old - 3 children max

• 4 years old - 2 children max

• 3 years old - 1 child max

Lessons start at the scheduled time and are continuous.

In collaboration with your instructor/guide you will agree a time during your full day experience to take a 30-minute break for lunch. Please note that the lunch break is considered part of your lesson time.

Only full-day lessons are available during 14th Dec - 10th Jan and 15th - 28th Feb.

Guests who book our Premium Privates have the flexibility to start in Hirafu, Annupuri, Kiroro or Rusutsu.

Our Guest Services team must be informed of your preference at least 48 hours in advance in order to guarantee it can be met.

If you wish to modify your Premium Private experience, please provide us with at least 48 hours’ notice before your lesson. This allows us to update your booking and ensure your instructor is ready to accommodate your request.

Changes requested within 48 hours are subject to availability. 

Your reservation includes transportation for a maximum of 6 guests on the day of your Premium Private.

Premium Private lessons begin at the scheduled pick-up time and cannot be extended if your departure is delayed.

In total, you will have the use of your instructor and vehicle for 9 hours. 

It is up to you and your instructor how you would like to best utilise this time to maximise your Niseko goals. 

Please note that your instructor’s working hours are limited to this timeframe.

After the 9 hours, you will be dropped off back to your accommodation.

An additional 2 hours is included in your booking to tailor the day to your needs. Please note if your travel time is longer than the 2 hours the additional time will be deducted from the lesson/tour duration. Please see the table below as a guideline to average travel times from Hirafu.

• Annupuri - 30 minutes

• Moiwa - 30 minutes

• Rusutsu - 45 minutes

• Kiroro - one hour

A 1-hour break for lunch is included.

The Priority Rental Experience is available to those who have booked a Premium Private with Rhythm Rides and gear rental from our Rhythm Hirafu store only.

This service offers access to a dedicated fitting queue and early rental pick-up. Pick-up is available from:

• 1 pm the day before the booking start date

• 8 am on the morning of the Premium Private

Please note, the rental fitting duration can vary depending on the time of the season.

• Onsen Experience - the cost of entry to the onsen is your own responsibility and is not included in the premium private.

Onsen entry is subject to the onsen’s own terms and conditions. 

• Rhythm Japan is not responsible for the refusal of entry or your personal belongings during the experience.

• Video Analysis Session - to enable your instructor to share feedback with you, you may be required to download an app. 

• Off-Snow additional services - any of the additional services mentioned below (but not limited to) are available within the total 9-hour experience. These include:

  • Visiting a grocery store in Kutchan

  • Having your instructor swap rental equipment on your behalf

  • Getting your equipment dropped at our workshop by your instructor (tuning fee not included)

  • Visiting local retailers

Please note that these additional services must fit within the total 9-hour day, including all requests made of the instructor.

Where we state ISIA or equivalent this means that the instructor has either the ISIA stamp, or a certification provided by a certifying body that is of an equivalent standard. 

Resort requests

Resort requests are required to be booked a minimum of 48 hours prior to your lesson/guided tour. Within this time we will endeavor to meet your request but are unable to guarantee a resort change.

If you would like to change your resort request, we recommend contacting our Guest Services team at rides@rhythmjapan.com to make arrangements or discuss this directly with your instructor if you are with them over multiple days.

An additional 2 hours is included with the Explorer Upgrade to tailor the day to your needs. Please note if your travel time is longer than the 2 hours the additional time will be deducted from the lesson/tour duration. Please see the table below as a guideline to average travel times from Hirafu.

• Annupuri - 30 minutes

• Moiwa* - 30 minutes

• Rusutsu - 45 minutes

• Kiroro - one hour

*Lift-accessed backcountry only