A group of 14 students on a skiing and mountaineering tour is stranded on 1,671-meter Mount Ocho, along the border between Fukui and Ishikawa prefectures, police said Saturday.
An amateur radio operator in Fukui received a distress radio signal from the group, comprising members of the mountain trekking club of Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo Prefecture, and called the police.
One of the group is suffering from hypothermia and another has frostbite, the police said.
The 14 students, all male, began their ski tour Tuesday and were to complete their route by Tuesday at the latest.
They are taking shelter in a snow cave they have dug and have maintained radio contact, although it seems they are close to running out of food, the police said.
Authorities said they will send rescue parties to the area early Sunday, as weather conditions were too bad to take any action Saturday.