Fun and frolics turned into tragedy on Saturday night as a man died as a result of a freak accident in the Japanese ski resort of Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. The man, indentified as Mr. Richard Barton, an English expat living in Germany on holiday in Japan, bled to death after swan-diving from the veranda of his ski lodge belly-first onto a rusty iron stake concealed under four feet (130cm) of fresh, powdery snow.
Friends staying with Mr. Barton in the chalet had also been jumping and diving from the same veranda, but had all fortuitously managed to avoid the stake. Their speedy and valiant attempts to free and resuscitate Mr. Barton were sadly in vain, as he was already dead by the time paramedics arrived on the scene.
Mr. Barton and his associates had been participating in drinking games for the previous two hours, which had apparently led to a series of escalating dares and challenges, culminating in jumping, diving and somersaulting from various parts of the chalet. Two members of the group—both Australians—had even dived into the snow unclothed, despite temperatures around -10ºC.
The death is not being treated as suspicious.