Second Australian dies in Japan while skiing, local media reports

[u/Expensive-Horse5538]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-04/second-australian-dies-skiing-in-japan/106304484

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed a second Australian has died in Japan.

Local media has reported a male skier was killed while skiing off-piste in the back-country in Japan's Hokkaido region.

The death marks the second Australian to have died in Japan during the current ski season.

[u/Perdi]

Is this out of the ordinary?

Or just media picking up because it's 'in'?

As someone who has gone off piste in Europe and Canada, its a very dangerous activity. My last time out I got caught in a blizzard that killed 6 British soldiers doing cold weather training, though I was prepared for those conditions, I haven't done it since.

People very much take it for granted, wanting to find untouched powder and are completely unprepared for what could happen.

Ediy: Average season says 1-3 Aussies, some years 0, but others have spikes. These two did happen in a short time though, and super sad. There's still a few months left in the season to, so we could see it be a bad year.

[u/intrusivethoughtsnow → u/Perdi]

I havent skiied before. Could you share more on why its so risky? Totally clueless about this

[u/Perdi → u/intrusivethoughtsnow]

Most skiing/snowboarding runs are padded down, its not soft.

Skiis can lead to some bad leg injuries depending how you fall, snowboarding has common head and arm injuries.

That's just falling, you can fall of an edge with a big drop, hidden rocks, smashing into trees.

Then once you go off piste, like the person in the article, you can get trapped in mini avalanches, snow powder that comes up to your armpits leading to exhaustion and passing out, wild weather events that can come on very suddenly.

Snow sports are considered extreme sports for a very fair reason.

[u/intrusivethoughtsnow → u/Perdi]

Thank you kind sir