A British backcountry skier died yesterday in an avalanche at Pinneshiri in the Kabato Mountains near Nakatonbetsu-cho in north Hokkaido according to Japan public broadcaster NHK.
The 34 year old British man was skiing with two others (one British, one Japanese) when he was caught in the avalanche. He was taken to hospital by helicopter but later pronounced dead.
A second avalanche claimed the life of a 47 year old freelance cameraman while snowboarding in Nagano. The avalanche occurred on Mount Norikura.
“He was caught in an avalanche when he was snowboarding with two other people outside a ski slope on Mount Norikura” a local fire department official told public broadcaster NHK.
This is the third avalanche related death in Japan in three days. On Thursday a French man was caught in an avalanche while backcountry skiing with seven friends near Tomamu on Thursday, January 30.
He was rescued unconscious and later died.
