An avalanche of grief
How two young Kiwis died on a Japanese mountainside
They were known thrillseekers, always eager to seek out their next adventure. Joshua Sellens and Isabella Bolton were chasing exactly that on Monday at the 1898m Mt Yo¯tei on Japan’s second-largest island of Hokkaido – a powder hotspot for skiers and snowboarders.
Nicknamed Ezo Fuji after its similar shape to its taller and more illustrious counterpart Mt Fuji, the multilayered volcano has no ski lifts or buildings, but many long and picturesque backcountry runs.
The pair were part of a group of six backcountry skiing the picturesque spot after, it’s understood, they entered the area from the Hirafu trailhead.
Just what happened next is still not clear. But around mid-morning, disaster struck. An avalanche came careening down the mountainside at an altitude of around 650m-700m.
A third Kiwi in the party, 21-yearold Lars Meier Blattner, was injured along with three others.
It’s understood that he managed to alert authorities of the avalanche about 10am. Japanese police said the local fire department in the nearby town of Kutchan received a call at 11am, stating that two people were stranded on the mountain.
The local search and rescue team located Sellens and Bolton buried in snow. Both had suffered cardiac and pulmonary arrest, and the rescue team immediately began resuscitation efforts, airlifting them to a local hospital where they were pronounced dead, according to snow sports website Snow Brains.
Blattner, whose family is from Hanmer Springs in North Canterbury, reportedly suffered a shoulder injury.
The Sapporo District Meteorological Observatory said that no avalanche warning was issued for the Mt Yo¯ tei area, nor was it heavily snowing around the time of the incident.
The estimated snowfall for the 48-hour period leading up to the incident was 5-10cm, not conducive to avalanche conditions.
But just 15km west of Mt Yo¯tei, another avalanche hit just after the deadly strike. At 12.40pm, an avalanche was reported at Mt Iwaonupuri, injuring one foreign national.
The news that two Kiwis had been killed overseas slowly filtered back.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed they were aware of the “tragic incident”.
On Tuesday, Bolton’s heartbroken family confirmed that the 21-year-old who was “full of vitality and passion for life” had died.
“It is with a heavy heart that we confirm the passing of our beloved Isabella Bolton, 21, in an avalanche accident in Hokkaido, Japan on Monday 11th March,” the family said in a statement to the Herald.
Born in Watford, England, Bolton grew up in Diamond Harbour and Heathcote Valley near Christchurch, attending Rangi Ruru Girls High School.
Her adventurous spirit and love for skiing and the outdoors led her to study for a diploma in outdoor adventure guiding in Banff, Canada, the family said.
She worked on ski fields in Canada, Tekapo¯ and Wa¯naka, and in November 2023 travelled to Japan to pursue a job in Niseko, where she had thrived as a ski guide.
The family extended their “deepest sympathy” to the family and friends of her colleague and friend whose life was also tragically lost.
“And to extend our gratitude to those who tried to save Isabella, and the local authorities.”
Sellens studied Japanese at Nelson College until Year 13 and, the day after his exams finished in 2008, he went with a mate to Hokkaido to work at the island’s ski resorts.
An avid outdoorsman, he transferred his skills of working as a ski instructor in New Zealand to teaching Japanese skiers.
“Their updates to their former Japanese teacher have been in increasingly longer instalments of Japanese,” a Nelson College post said.
“So far, the highlights of their experience have been going to a temple on New Year’s and drinking namazake (a cloudy version of sake) from bamand boo cups, sitoutdoor ting in onsens watching monkeys peel and eat mandarins.”
Sellens fell in love with Japan and ended up staying.
The 33-year-old guide was a cofounder of the Japanese adventure company, Niseko Zen.
“[Sellens] practically lives in ski boots during the winters, chasing deep and rich lines in Hokkaido, drinking that always convivial chat on top of the most exciting skis this island has to offer,” the company’s website said.
A tribute post uploaded by the other co-founder of Niseko Zen, Saki Hayashi, read: “With deep sadness, I reach out to all friends of Josh Sellens to come and join us in celebrating the amazing life he lived and the great human that he was.”
He also shared his “deepest condolences” to the family and friends of Bolton.
“She was a true shredder with a heart of gold,” Hayashi said.
The tragedy was felt widely back home in New Zealand, in a country far from immune to the killer phenomenon. According to a 2021 New Zealand Mountain Safety Council (MSC) report, there were 742 reported “avalanche incidents” from 1999 to 2018, including 27 fatalities. Of those deaths, 19 involved mountaineers, two were trampers, and three were heliskiers. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding each had one fatality.
“Thankfully, New Zealand does not experience the same amount of avalanche fatalities as other developed nations. However, when accounting for our small population our numbers are relatively similar,” the MSC said in its 2021 conclusions. “The potential for tragedy is always present.”
Wa¯naka-based ski guide and avalanche expert Peter Bilous said backcountry skiing had become increasingly popular and while conditions in New Zealand were probably more dangerous than Japan, people always needed to be vigilant.
“A lot of people get away with a scare, perhaps go away and do an avalanche course. But sometimes it’s worse than a scare, like it was in this case.”
Isabella Bolton was a true shredder with a heart of gold
Saki Hayashi, of Niseko Zen