Backcountry
A 33-year-old American pro skier has died following a backcountry skiing accident near Mount Kotomi in Hakuba Valley in Japan’s Northern Alps, Japanese newspapers confirmed on January 19. Mount Kotomi is located in the northern Japanese Alps on the Tomi Ridge leading toward Mount Goryu, in Nagano Prefecture.
According to Japanese police, the skier fell while backcountry skiing, became stuck, and was unable to move. Emergency services were alerted by one of his companions around 3:30 p.m. on January 18 and were told the skier was stuck under a waterfall. The man was part of a group of four backcountry skiers; the remaining three descended the mountain safely.
A recovery team consisting of eight personnel from the prefectural police and other rescue services was dispatched early on the morning of January 19. Rescuers located the injured skier around noon. He was airlifted by helicopter, but was later pronounced dead.
The skier was identified as Max Martin, a professional skier from Jackson, Wyoming. Martin was known for his background as a competitive ski racer, having competed on the NCAA Division I circuit with Plymouth State University earlier in his career. His racing foundation shaped his reputation as a technically precise big-mountain skier, recognized for calculated, smooth, and fast lines.
His death has been met with an outpouring of tributes on social media from fellow athletes, sponsors, and friends, who describe him as a pillar of the Jackson and Teton communities. “He showed up with deep kindness and a style on skis that spoke for itself—whether laying down a perfect carve on hard pack or charging through powder.” A fundraiser has been started to help repatriate Martin’s body to America.
Authorities continue to investigate the details of the accident as they work to clarify the conditions and exact sequence of events that led to his death.
The description doesn’t really make sense unless the three other skiers knew he was deceased. RIP
May details are obviously missing. I’m guessing he went over a stream that was under the many feet of snow and it collapsed. I’ve almost had this happen to me in Japan – there is so much snow you won’t eve nknow you’re going over a gorge or stream until it’s too late. I was stuck on a the side of a bank taht led to a stream clinging onto a tree and only managed to get out by unbinding and fighting my way back up the hill. It was scary and last time i ever went in the japan backcountry alone. My condolences to max’s family and friends. Truly sad to lose someone so young.
Sounds like he hit a glide crack, not unlike a crevasse on a glacier. I took a fall in some bottomless snow at Arai last year and when I excavated my ski, there was a CAVE about ten feet into a creek bed. If you fell in there, you’d never get out and your friends would have no clue.
I’ve know Max since 2010. I met him while he was working summers for a friend in Jackson. We really enjoyed skiing with him. My boys were 9 and 14 when they met Max. This hit home very hard. RIP Max. You will be dearly missed.