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
Shortly before 15:00 a group of four snowboarders called 110 saying they had lost their way outside the Naeba courses and could not move. A police helicopter was sent but could not find them in poor visibility, and the ground search was stopped about 19:30 because of the risk of a second accident. The group had no food or other mountain equipment, and phone batteries ran low; the last contact was a text message. A search team found them about 08:30 the next day along the Akayu forest road, about 1 km from the courses; they walked down about 10:00 and were not injured.
The group called 110 shortly before 15:00 (reported as 午後3時前); exact minute not given. They were found about 08:30 on 12 February.
Where
Outside the ski areaOutside the courses of Naeba ski resort, Yuzawa town; found about 1 km from the courses along the Akayu forest road (赤湯林道).
Known only to the area.
Link to the ski area
Near a ski area, not inside it
Reported as 苗場スキー場のコース外 (outside the courses of Naeba ski resort); one report calls it backcountry snowboarding. Outside the courses, so it is NEAR (not counted against naeba), following the rule used for the Niseko records.
People
Died0
Injured0
Rescued4
What is known about the cause
- Police, preliminaryLeft the resort courses and lost their way (police, reported). [1]
Not confirmed
- Where the group left the resort and which course they started from.
- The exact call time.
- One snippet places the find about 3 km north-west of the Naeba Prince Hotel; the 1 km / Akayu forest road detail was not seen this time.
- No food or winter mountain equipment; phone batteries ran out (reported) (reported by NST Niigata Sogo Television; that source could not be re-checked).
- Poor visibility prevented a helicopter search on the first day (reported) (reported by NST Niigata Sogo Television; that source could not be re-checked).
Sources
- Niigata Nippo ↗checked in search results
- Niigata Nippo ↗checked in search results
- NST Niigata Sogo Television ↗ · 2024-02-11
- NST Niigata Sogo Television ↗ · 2024-02-12checked in search results
- TeNY Television Niigata (via Yahoo! News) ↗
- NST Niigata Sogo Television (via Yahoo! News) ↗
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.