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
A skier was backcountry skiing with a friend in the national forest outside the ski area's managed area. At about 11:30 the friend called police to say the skier was buried in snow and could not move. About ten police and rescue team members reached and recovered the skier about four hours later, but the skier was confirmed dead. The friend was not hurt. Reports and a ropeway association summary describe heavy new snow at the time (figures differ between sources).
About 11:30 is when the friend called for help (search snippet). Rescuers reached the skier about four hours later.
Where
Outside the ski areaNational forest outside the managed area of the ski area, Nozawa Onsen village (reports).
Known only to the area.
Link to the ski area
Near a ski area, not inside it
Reports (search titles): 'national forest outside the ski area's managed area' (スキー場の管理区域外の国有林), Nozawa Onsen village. Not inside the managed area.
People
Died1
Injured0
Rescued—Not reported
What is known about the cause
- News reportHeavy new snow; snow depth well above normal at the time (reports differ on the figures). [4]
Not confirmed
- What buried the skier (avalanche, tree well, fall into deep snow); none of the snippets seen says.
- Snow depth figures (124 cm in the village vs 240 cm at about 1400 m) come from different sources.
- Where the skier left the ski area, if at all.
Sources
- SBC Shinetsu Broadcasting (via Yahoo! News) ↗
- abn Nagano Asahi Broadcasting (via Yahoo! News) ↗
- TBS NEWS DIG (via Nifty News) ↗ · 2024-12-31
- Hokuriku-Shinetsu Mountain Tourism Ropeway Association ↗ · 2025-09-02checked in search results
- SBC Shinetsu Broadcasting (via Yahoo! News) ↗checked in search results
- TSB Television Shinshu (via Yahoo! News) ↗checked in search results
- NBS Nagano Broadcasting (via Yahoo! News) ↗checked in search results
- SBC Shinetsu Broadcasting (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.