A 50-yer-old man died after he was buried by snow while backcountry skiing in a national forest near a ski resort at Nozawa Onsen Village, Nagano Prefecture, on Monday.
According to police, Norikazu Morita, a company employee from Higashiyamato City, Tokyo, was skiing with a friend when he was buried by snow at around 11:30 a.m., NHK reported. The friend, who was not caught up in the snow, called for help.
About 10 people, including a police mountain rescue team, headed to the scene. Morita was pulled from the snow about 2 1/2 hours later and taken to hospital where he was confirmed dead.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said that as of noon on Monday, 1.23 meters of snow had been observed in Nozawa Onsen Village.
Nagano prefectural government officials are urging people to choose pistes that suit their physical strength, skill and experience when backcountry skiing, and to always check the weather and snow conditions before heading out onto the slopes.
Another party of eight foreign skiers, who saw the five engulfed in the avalanche while also skiing outside of the designated ski slope in the area, rushed over to dig them up. Three of the five survived — two uninjured and a third with a shoulder injury. They walked down with the other party, leaving behind the two who were found without vital signs, the police said.
At Nozawa, another ski and hot springs resort elsewhere in the Nagano prefecture, rescuers found the body of a 38-year-old Japanese skier in the forest outside a designated ski slope where he went missing while backcountry skiing with a friend, police said.
An avalanche warning was issued for the area on Sunday following heavy snow since last week.
