An avalanche occurs on Mount Norikura in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, around 10 a.m. on March 14. One climber was killed. (Takahiro Kumakura)

Photo/Illutration A climber says he survived the avalanche by grabbing a tree in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, on March 14. (Provided by the climber)

MATSUMOTO, Nagano Prefecture--A mountain climber in his 40s was heading toward the peak of Mount Norikuradake when he heard someone shout “avalanche” and then felt the ground beneath his feet give way.

As he started sliding down in the snow, he noticed a large tree to his side and immediately jumped to grab hold of it. The snow buried him up to his waist.

Screams for help followed as well as cries of pain.

He and other climbers who escaped the avalanche relatively unscathed dug out others from the snow.

But they soon realized, “We are missing one person.”

The avalanche occurred around 10 a.m. on March 14 in the mountain’s Kuraigahara area at an elevation of around 2,400 meters, according to the Matsumoto Station of the Nagano prefectural police.

Five male climbers were caught in the avalanche, including Naoya Toda, a 49-year-resident of Yasu, Shiga Prefecture, who suffered cardiopulmonary arrest and was later confirmed dead.

The five were on a trail that leads to Kengamine, the peak of the 3,026-meter-high mountain, when the avalanche hit, police said.

Two men in their 40s who were climbing with Toda suffered minor injuries. The two other men climbed down the mountain by themselves, according to police.

The site of the avalanche is not far from a slope of a ski resort. A mass of snow that had accumulated near a prefectural road that is closed off during the winter months collapsed, creating the avalanche that was 200 meters wide and rumbled 300 meters down the mountainside.

The climber who grabbed the tree said he left the base of the mountain around 6 a.m. The climb took longer than expected, he said, because the soft snow was difficult to grip.

He said other climbers struggled, too. Eventually, he and seven others formed a line to move up the hill.

Then the avalanche struck.

When he got himself out of the snow, the man shouted, “Anybody here?”

He heard someone screaming, “Help!”

A few men were buried in the snow, with only their faces or arms sticking out. One was trapped between a tree and the snow. Everybody was in pain, he said.

The man said he rescued them one by one, digging them out of the snow.

Two climbers who had been walking ahead of him were swept away for about 20 meters in the avalanche, but they dug themselves out, he said.

The avalanche created two paths--one big and one small--through an area with thick trees, he said.

He and four other climbers had emerged from the snow in the larger path in 10 minutes or so, he said. Toda, however, was still unaccounted for.

About 30 climbers who happened to be nearby gathered together and started a search and rescue mission while a police helicopter hovered above.

About 1 hour and 40 minutes after the avalanche occurred, Toda was found buried about 50 centimeters deep in the small path.

The tree-grabbing climber, who is a doctor, applied cardiac massage on Toda. “I prayed for a miracle,” he said.

The man said he is an experienced climber and has always been cautious about avalanches.

“But I never expected to be caught by one,” he said.

Police said there was another avalanche in the Central Japan Alps in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture. It struck near the Senjojiki Cirque, at about 2,680 meters in elevation, around 9 a.m. on March 14.

A resident of Aichi Prefecture in his 40s was caught up in the descending snow, but he escaped and climbed down on his own, police said.

According to the Nagano Local Meteorological Observatory, an avalanche warning has been issued in the area due to heavy snowfall from March 12 to 13.

Police said freshly fallen snow likely caused the surface-layer avalanche.

Related News