One of 2 foreign skiers swept up in Japan was Kyle Smaine

TOKYO, Jan 30, Reuters 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 around 2: 30 p.m. 0530 GMT on the eastern slope of Mount Hakuba Norikura in the ski resort, a Nagano police spokeswoman said.

The media said the men were from Austria and the United States, but outdoor magazine Mountain Gazette said the U.S. skier was Kyle Smaine, 31, in its online edition.

With great sadness, the magazine reported that South Lake Tahoe Professional Skier Kyle Smaine died in an avalanche in Japan.

Smaine was on a work trip to the area, and was taking a free ski with several other skiers when the avalanche occurred.

The police had earlier said that the five men were skiing in two separate groups on the mountain, which is 2,469 m 8,100 ft high. On Sunday, the three other skiers had climbed down the mountain on their own.

The weather authorities issued an avalanche warning for the area after heavy snowfall in the past few days.