MichaelBell 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Hi - my brother Robert Bell, Australian, went missing at Gala Yuzawa yesterday (Sunday, 30 Jan 2011). He was on a snowboarding day trip from Tokyo. He did not return to collect his belongings from the locker at the end of day, and has not been seen since Sunday morning. I'm trying to find anyone who skied at Yuzawa on Sunday, who may have seen or had contact with Rob. He snowboards, was wearing black pants, beige top, dark gold coloured Gath helmet. He was most likely on the south side, advanced/black runs. Yuzawa search & rescue went looking for him last night, but called off the search at midnight. The search will resume this morning. I'm in Melbourne, Australia - feeling helpless - but his wife is in Tokyo. She is on her way to Yuzawa on first train this morning. Any info or assistance that forum members can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Michael Bell. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted January 31, 2011 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 31, 2011 Very sorry to hear about that Michael. We are based in Yuzawa and will try to ask around and see if we can help at all. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sorry to hear that, there has certainly been some crazy snow conditions here yesterday. I hope he turns up quickly. Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelBell 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Thanks David - I know there have been heavy falls overnight, so it's a big ask to send out searchers. Please do what you can. Michael. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Was he on his own, Michael? Why do you say he was on the South Side, is that where he said he was going to be or something? Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelBell 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 He was on his own. I don't know for sure which runs he was skiing. But he did discuss with a friend last week how good the South Side would be, and how he wanted to try it. I'm going off second-hand info, and I'm not familiar with the mountain, so sorry if this is vague. Michael. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sad to hear that. Hope he turns up safely and quickly. Do you know was he likely to have been staying on the runs, or venture out and try to go 'places he shouldn't'? Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sorry to hear about your brother, hope he is found quickly and is safe! Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelBell 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 I honestly don't know. I'm not a skiier myself, and haven't skied with him. Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 The south side is usually ungroomed and with the snow that they have had over there would have been deep deep yesterday. I doubt people would want or feel the need to venture out of the main area, and doing so wouldn't have been a good idea either. Lets hope he didn't. Link to post Share on other sites
ILoveZao 8 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sad to hear it. Hoping for good news soon. Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelBell 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Here's a link to a recent photo of Rob in his snowboarding gear. This is what he would have been wearing yesterday. Rob is the one on the left - black pants, beige top, black helmet. Link to post Share on other sites
RobBright 35 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 The link doesn't Michael,hope he turns up well. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted January 31, 2011 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 31, 2011 You can upload a photo to here Michael: http://www.snowjapanforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/389415/GUIDE_Uploading_photos_to_Snow.html Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Michael, I am so sorry to hear about your distress. Hoping you have some news sooner rather than later. My heartfelt best wishes for a good outcome. Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelBell 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Here's a recent photo of Rob in his snowboarding gear. This is what he would have been wearing yesterday. Rob is the one on the left - black pants, beige top, black helmet. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sorry to hear that. Hope you can post some relieved good news soon. What kind of search did they do yesterday you know? Link to post Share on other sites
rider69 18 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Not good news at all. Sorry the map I linked was wrong. I hope this turns out well. I had a friend spend 7 hours at yuzawa lost. There is hope. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Originally Posted By: rider69 Do you have any idea on this map about where he may have gone? That map is Yuzawa Kogen, not Gala Yuzawa. And anyway if you read the post, Michael says he has no idea where he has gone other than say he was looking forward to the South area. Link to post Share on other sites
heathclouston 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Hi Michael, some posted this Hmmmm..... Gala Yuzawa is not very big, but sounds like he was in the newer area. If he delved into the trees, the patroller's sweep would not have picked him up there. It's also snowed a lot in Yuzawa, so any tracks into the trees would have been covered up. It's also possible he's dropped off the cat track on the southern side of the intermediate area. One other possibility is that he's attempted to go towards Ishiuchi Maruyama, which is off the back of Gala Yuzawa (and linked with the appropriate ticket), and has been unable to get back up to Gala Yuzawa from Ishiuchi Maruyama. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Even if he had gone to Ishiuchi Maruyama, which is connected from the North Side of Gala Yuzawa, he would still have been able to get back to the station and get home. Ishiuchi is a major resort with lots of people around. There's also lots of ropes at Gala and signs telling you to stick in the roped areas. If he had been going out of bounds, he would likely have known it and done it intentionally. Why does it sound like he was in the "new" area? Just because he said he was interested in going to that South Area (which isn't new as such just re-opened after a few years closed). Having said that, it is the area that I would expect people to have the most chance of getting lost/stuck because of the nature of the courses etc. Still I'm pretty sure there's ropes everywhere on the sides. I'm sure the resort and whoever is looking for him are well aware of the possible areas he could have ended up in. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Hang in there, there has been a LOT of people survive over night using basic safety techniques. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted January 31, 2011 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 31, 2011 Last few minutes some blue skies opening up over Yuzawa so hopefully it will clear up which might help things. Called the resort to see if we could help in any way but they weren't really able to tell us much. Link to post Share on other sites
heathclouston 0 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sorry, my post before wasn't very clear because I posted it on my phone (which is a pain to cut and past text on!). The contents of my post were copied which someone had cross-posted michael's topic on. Thinking of you and your family Michael xoxo Link to post Share on other sites
iiyamadude 6 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Gala Yuzawa may not be 'very big' as such, but it covers a fair area - there are 3 parts to it with the South Area connected to Yuzawa Kogen and the North Area connected to Ishiuchi Maruyama as muikabochi said. But if he had come down at either of those places he would have quite easily have been able to get back to Gala to pick up his stuff. Hope you can post good news soon. Link to post Share on other sites
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