A summary of public reports, written by Ski in Sky and checked against each source. It is not an official investigation, and it may change as investigations continue.
What happened
The skier was last in a party of seven skiing a slope outside the ski area for backcountry and dropped out of sight. While the party climbed back up to search, another group of four coming down behind was found giving the skier CPR. A party member reported to a superior at their workplace; the fire service rescued the skier, who was taken to hospital and confirmed dead.
15:00 is when a ski resort official called police (110), not when the incident began.
Where
Outside the ski areaA slope outside the ski areas, between Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort and Niseko Annupuri International Ski Area, Niseko town (police, via UHB).
Known only to the area.
Link to the ski area
Reported by staff of
Police received a 110 call about 15:00 from a ski resort official (スキー場関係者) reporting a rescue request from outside the ski area (UHB). Hokkaido Shimbun (search-result text only; page now removed) says the caller was an employee of Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort. The slope lies outside both Niseko Moiwa and Niseko Annupuri International and is not attributed to either; neither is a resort Ski in Sky covers.
People
Died1
Injured—Not reported
Rescued—Not reported
What is known about the cause
- Police, preliminaryNo obvious external injury; cause under investigation (police, at the time of reporting). [1]
Not confirmed
- Cause of death. Police said there was no obvious external injury. Online commentary has suggested a tree well, and an English-language report seen only in search results (5 February, citing the New York Post) said it was believed to be a heart attack; police have not said either.
- Which resort's staff called police: UHB says only a ski resort official; Hokkaido Shimbun's search text says an employee of Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort, but that page could not be opened. The exact slope between Niseko Moiwa and Niseko Annupuri International is not known.
- Whether there was an avalanche: an English-language headline says "reported avalanche"; the UHB report does not mention one.
Sources
- UHB (Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting) ↗ · 2026-02-02
- HTB (Hokkaido Television Broadcasting) ↗
- STV (via Yahoo! News) ↗
- Hokkaido Shimbun ↗ · 2026-02-03
Last checked against the sources on 2026-10-22.