Mount Hakuba News Today

Rescuers in Japan could discern no vital signs on Monday in two foreign men, as yet unidentified, after they were swept up in an avalanche while backcountry skiing in the central prefecture of Nagano, police said. The men were among five foreigners engulfed in Sunday's avalanche, which took place at about 2:30 p.m. The other three skiers had climbed down the mountain on their own on Sunday, the spokesman said.

Japanese officials were waiting to confirm the victims' IDs in the off-piste disaster, but a U.S. magazine and a photographer said Lake Tahoe's Kyle Smaine was one.

One of two foreign men swept up in an avalanche in Japan while back-country skiing in the central prefecture of Nagano and found without vital signs on Monday was U.S. professional skier Kyle Smaine, an outdoor magazine said. The men were among five foreigners engulfed in Sunday's avalanche, which took place at about 2:30 p.m.

Japanese officials were waiting to confirm the victims' IDs in the off-piste disaster, but a U.S. magazine and a photographer said Lake Tahoe's Kyle Smaine was one.

An extensive search took place on Sunday after two men were reported missing following an avalanche.

Freestyle skier Kyle Smaine died Sunday after getting caught in an avalanche in Japan, his family told NBC News' <a...

A photographer who was taking part in the backcountry ski trip said Kyle Smaine was "thrown 50 meters by the air blast and buried" in the avalanche.

Rolling Through Lush Panoramas The Kurobe Gorge in Toyama Prefecture is one of Japan’s top scenic spots. Visitors to the area can enjoy the surrounding beauty in the open-air trains of the Kurobe Gorge Railway. The line runs some 20 kilometers from Unazuki Station at the north end of the gorge to Keyakidaira Station at the south. The trip whisks riders along a route dotted with features like sheer rock faces, towering peaks, and railway bridges hovering tens of meters in the air. Every time t...