national

French tourist killed in avalanche while skiing in Niigata

8 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© KYODO

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

8 Comments
Login to comment

I used to work at a ski resort near Arai and went there a number of times. It's infamous - at least among the locals- for its deep snow and number of people killed there.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Off designated area, so basically his fault. Not the first time of course.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

In France, many people use to ski off designated areas every year, and some of them lose their live either because of avalanches or other accidents.

The same causes produce the same effects.

I wonder who will get the bill for the rescue

That's the real and only matter of the story.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Off piste skiing is always dangerous. Avoid unless you know exactly the local conditions.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The skiing visitors should obey the rules for safety.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

RIP. He gave into temptation and paid for it with his life. He's not the first and won't be the last.

Apparently he was wearing an avalanche airbag, but it was not deployed for whatever reason. The way human psychology works, some people can end up taking bigger risks when carrying avalanche safety gear. An airbag is something that is good to have but you should never have to use.

The snowpack high up at Arai is likely to be 5m deep, but the avalanche will not be that deep. Its more likely that slabs of snow have slid on a weak layer, such as ice, somewhere between 20 and 150cm deep. Slides to ground (5m) don't happen at this time of year, and not off a human trigger.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites