A summary of public reports, written by Ski in Sky and checked against each source. It is not an official investigation, and it may change as investigations continue.
What happened
The spouse told ski-area staff that the skier had not come back at the agreed time and did not answer the phone, and staff called police about 12:50. The skier had gone outside the courses alone. A Hokkaido Police mountain rescue team flew from Sapporo, and the helicopter found the skier outside the courses about two hours later and rescued them. The follow-up headline quotes the skier: they were in the backcountry and no longer knew where they were. UHB noted the ski area asks backcountry users to file a climbing plan and leave through its six gates.
About 12:50 is when ski-area staff, told by the spouse, called police. Rescue about two hours later.
Where
Outside the ski areaOutside the courses of the ski area at Kitanomine, Furano city.
Known only to the area.
Link to the ski area
Near a ski area, not inside it
UHB titles: '富良野スキー場で“山岳遭難”' and '富良野市のスキー場コース外'; the follow-up quotes the skier saying they were in the backcountry and did not know where they were. Outside the courses, so not linked to the resort.
People
Died0
Injured0
Rescued1
What is known about the cause
- News reportWent outside the courses alone and lost their way (reported). [2]
Not confirmed
- Whether the skier used one of the ski area's backcountry gates.
- How the skier got lost: search text says one ski came off and slid away and the skier lost their bearings chasing it (UHB, search result only).
Sources
- UHB Hokkaido Bunka Hoso ↗
- UHB Hokkaido Bunka Hoso ↗checked in search results
- STV (via Yahoo! News) ↗checked in search results
This record was checked against search results for these reports (date, place and outcome); the original articles could not be opened.
Last checked against the sources on 2026-10-22.