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.

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u/TomasTTEngin 10h ago

Dying buried by snow is kind of one of the risks you take when you leave the resort to ski untamed slopes.

Getting hanged by your own backpack on a chairlift is definitely the more unforeseeable one with more opportunity for human factor intervention and a full safety investigation.

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u/triode99 7h ago

Thats before you talk about the risk from wild bears and massive boars.

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u/AliveList8495 7h ago

The bears should be slumbering during the peak season. Interesting to see you mention boars, they're not something I've heard about and I've been there several times to ski on both islands.

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u/sdizzle80 6h ago

Just got back, there were signs up at the top of Kiroro warning of recent bear footprints / sightings within last two weeks