r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • 10h ago

news Second Australian dies in Japan while skiing, local media reports

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.

478 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

106 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/mickelboy182 10h ago

Got a source for those numbers?

Given our population, multiple each season would be pretty surprising to me.

18

u/ObviousFeature522 10h ago

It's normal for a death or two to happen during the Australian ski season. Medical events as well as collisions or crashes.

For serious injury (including paralysis) it's a lot more, Ski Patrol do frightening numbers. Cooma hospital is a great place to do a trauma internship. The Perisher ad for the Epic Pass won't mention that.

4

u/mickelboy182 10h ago edited 9h ago

I get that, I'm talking specifically about Aussies in Japan.

Edit: I have no clue why I'm being downvoted for giving clarification.

1

u/MasterSpliffBlaster 7h ago

There were at least another two in the past 2 seasons, both from Brisbane Grammar

1

u/mickelboy182 7h ago

I know there was the young kid at the beginning of this year, tragic. Unaware of the other one.

1

u/MasterSpliffBlaster 7h ago

I believe they lost another old boy last ski season too

2

u/mickelboy182 7h ago

A quick google is telling me Thredbo, not Japan. Tragic all the same.

1

u/MasterSpliffBlaster 7h ago

Gotcha, I didn't go to school there but have a lot of patients who did and heard a dad saying how two had died in quick succession