KATASHINA, Gunma Prefecture-A 30-year-old snowboarder was rescued Monday after spending six days huddled in a snow cave he built on stormy Mount Maehotaka in the prefecture, police said.

A companion is still missing.

Tei Shimada, of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, was spotted hiking alone on a mountain ridge by a prefectural police helicopter, officials said.

After getting close to the 2,039-meter peak around 4 p.m. Tuesday, he and three skiers started their descent. But they got separated and lost their way.

Two men safely found their way back by noon Wednesday.

But there was no sign of Shimada and Yusaku Kaneko, 27, from Tokyo's Hino city.

On Monday morning, an officer aboard a police search helicopter spotted footsteps in the snow on a ridge, and soon after saw Shimada waving his arms and clutching his snowboard, police said.

Shimada explained he had camped alone in a snow cave he dug Tuesday night because of bad weather.

He survived by scooping snow into a water bottle and drinking it when the contents had melted.

He told his rescuers: ``I haven't eaten anything since I became lost.''

After six days, the storm cleared, and he ventured outside and began climbing toward the peak.

After about an hour, around 9:12 a.m., the helicopter spotted him.

Shimada contacted family members several times by cellphone after he became lost.

But they had not heard from him since Wednesday noon, when he told them he was going to bivouac, police said.(IHT/Asahi: February 8,2005)