A Briton was among nine people forced to spend the night in a snow cave after becoming stranded on a Japanese mountain.

The group of eight foreign skiers and snowboarders, plus a Japanese guide, failed to return to the base of Mt Kurodake on the island of Hokkaido, about 620 miles northwest of Tokyo, yesterday afternoon.

A helicopter search located some of the group, but it was too late in the day to rescue them.

The group – which also included skiers from the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand – were then forced to spend the night huddled together in a dug-out snow cave amid sub-freezing temperatures. Temperatures in the area fell to 40F (minus 4.5C) in foggy and rainy conditions.

They were located safely this morning near a ski trail and brought to safety. They reportedly suffered no injuries and were in good spirits, but two women were physically weak and had to be taken to a local hospital.

The group had earlier hiked to the peak of the mountain, which is a popular international destination but deemed by locals as difficult and recommended only for traversing by experienced skiers and snowboarders.

The Briton is believed to be a regular visitor to Hokkaido and is living in the ski resort of Niseko for the winter season. He works for a local adventure travel group.

One of the group who had made it back the base safely told Niseko’s Powderlife website that they were at the end of a trip visiting local snow resorts and were not concerned about the safety of the lost travellers.

“They [police] said they were in a safe spot,” the skier told the website from the base of the mountain on Tuesday evening.

“It’s not too cold, it’s not windy, there’s no snow forecast. They’ve got enough gear … so if they all look after each other they’ll be fine.”

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