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
Near midday a snowboarder taking part in a guided backcountry tour of six people, guide included, hit a tree while riding near Tenguppara on Mt Hakuba-Norikura. A companion called police, and a Toyama prefecture fire and disaster helicopter took part in the rescue. The rider was taken to hospital and died.
5 Mar 2026 per the Nagano mountain bulletin No. 436 (search result). About 11:50 is the accident time in a livedoor/TSB search snippet; not confirmed from an opened source.
Where
Outside the ski areaBackcountry near Tenguppara (天狗原) on Mt Hakuba-Norikura, Northern Alps, Otari village.
Known only to the area.
Link to the ski area
Near a ski area, not inside it
NBS (X, opened): backcountry snowboarding (バックカントリーでスノーボード滑走中) near Tenguppara on Mt Hakuba-Norikura. No ski area is named in the reports seen, and they do not say whether the party set out from one.
People
Died1
Injured—Not reported
Rescued—Not reported
What is known about the cause
- News reportHit a standing tree while snowboarding in the backcountry, on a guided tour of six (NBS). [1]
Not confirmed
- Whether the slope was backcountry or a resort course: one blog summary says an advanced course; news reports and the police bulletin say backcountry.
- Whether the tour started from a ski area lift.
- Exact spot: the bulletin says Mt Hakuba-Norikura; Tenguppara comes from NBS.
Sources
- NBS Nagano Broadcasting (X post) ↗ · 2026-03-06
- TSB Television Shinshu (via Yahoo! News) ↗ · 2026-03-05
- livedoor News ↗ · 2026-03-05
- Nagano Prefecture / Nagano Prefectural Police (Sangaku Tsushin No. 436) ↗ · 2026-03-11checked in search results
Last checked against the sources on 2026-10-22.