6 May 2008
A 50 year old male skier died when he fell for 200m from about 2900m on Yari-ga-take (3180m) over Golden Week. Temperatures were extremely high at that time. He was rescued alive but later died in hospital.
Note: this incident happened at the more famous Yari near Kamikochi about 50km south west of Hakuba, it is not Hakuba Yari. Both are placed roughly at each end of the Japanese Alps.
Copied from a friend's Japanese alpine news blog:
Yuki Arai, a mountain skier was killed by an accident at Goryu (2,814m) in Nagano Kita Alps on April 23, 2008. He was found dead under a cliff apx. 300m down from the top of Goryu-dake by a police helicopter at 8:00 am of April 28. He went into the mountain from April 23 alone, and his friend asked the police to find him on April 27 evening. He was supposed to be killed when skiing. He is a mountain guide, the chief manager of Tokyo University Ski Alpine Club. He is known among Japanese mountain skiers as the first successor who skied down on the north face of KashimaYari-gatake. He was born in 1975, and lived in Gunma.
My comment:
read more »Sadly an 81 year old male skier died after he fell into the Shomyo River in the popular Tateyama backcountry area. He lived in nearby Toyama and was on a day-long backcountry trip and failed to return home that evening. His body was located by helicopter. The fall was reported as happening at around 900m.
Note: I do not know the area of the incident, but the the Kita Alps are well known for having very steep sided ravines with turbulent and fast flowing rivers at this time of year. It is a hazard in these mountains and I can see how unfortunately such terrain features can lead to accidents like this. It emphasises the need for careful route finding and being always aware of loose soft spring snow and stones falling from above or giving way below your feet on steep sided terrain. Even a short fall in seemingly safe terrain can lead to a nasty end if you are alone, sustain an injury and end up in the very cold water as evening approaches.
The ridiculous heli skiing operation from Tsugaike ski resort to Tengubara (below Norikura Dake) seems to be under a welcome threat since the helicopter lands in national park. It has always been national park, so I don't know why they decide to only now make a fuss about it.
The rolling flat terrain of Tengubara, speckled with small pine bushes, sits below the rounded form of Norikura Dake. I took this picture on Christmas Day 2007 after camping in the area and skiing from Norikura Dake. This is easy access terrain and a gateway to excellent backcountry touring. A joy-ride helicopter is not needed. Note: the heli doesn't even go to Norikura Dake.
It was reported on April 6 that 200 people took the heli ride on one weekend (its like an amusement park) and that unnaturally high volume of skiers could pose a threat to the habitat of the protected Ptarmigan bird native to the area.
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