
Update Nozawa Onsen
Have had a lot of calls this morning from journalists and concerned people for the missing family so just wanted to update what we know.
- The family was found at about 8:45 am this morning and all well with maybe some minor frostbite from a very cold night on the mountain.
- It was a Mother and 3 Adult sons from Australia that had been staying at the resort
- It would appear that they had ventured out side the Resort boundary yesterday afternoon off the back of Mt Kenashi which is the highest peak at Nozawa Onsen at 1650m
- They probably skied along a ridge and then headed down the south face. No doubt lost and concerned as night closed in. It is quite a distance down from there and would imagine they were walking or skiing most of the night downhill looking for a way out. They were then discovered towards the bottom of the mountain early this morning
- They have been taken to nearby hospital to recover and are from all reports in good health.
- The boundary is well sign posted and if they had stayed within the resort boundaries would have been found by the Patrol when they do their checks every afternoon. The resort is fully patrolled
- There has been an amazing amount of snow fall here in Nozawa Onsen over the last few days and the lure of the powder snow is great but it is not a time to be venturing outside of the resort area. Please stay on the dedicated runs and stay safe.
- It is going to be a great season up here with all this snow so hope to see you in Nozawa