Guy Lacelle died killed by an avalanche in Montana

by **climbxclimb** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:04 am

It is a tragic news to learn that such a prolific climber died...
He was an inspiration for many, including me ....R.I.P.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/ ... 12497.html

by **divnamite** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:40 am

RIP! 2009 hasn't been kind to a lot of legends!

by **dfrancom** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:51 am

Sad! this guy was a legend indeed.

by **xDoogiex** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:17 am

Damn. RIP

by **chris.mueller** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:14 am

Very sad

by **welle** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 5:21 pm

More details on the accident: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/de ... imber-dies

A team of climbers higher up the gully dislodged a pocket of snow and the small avalanche that ensued was sufficient to knock Lacelle off his perch and sent him falling to his death.

This blows!

by **Cascade Scrambler** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 7:19 pm

Sickening.

Some people will say he died doing what he loved, but I disagree. I'm sure he loved living more than he loved dying.

by **Alpinisto** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:42 pm

Very sad.

Although he's most well-known for his balls-out freesoloing, the little bit of info in the news reports indicate he was competing in the Bozeman ice competition, which makes me wonder if he was roped up on this climb. (I'm not sure if an ice fest would promote/condone freesoloing.)

Does anybody know one way or the other?

by b. » Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:34 am

He was not roped, but was teamed with a local climber for the invitational competition. They were approaching a climb. My partner and I had a slide (mostly spindrift) come over us on an adjacent climb last weekend and it seemed like an isolated pocket, not widespread instability. Last year we saw a small slide on the very pitch that he went over. It's dangerous in that there are lots of small places for snow to build but no large, obvious loading zones. Lots of wind loading from different directions has made conditions hard to read this year. Very sad. This town is bummed right now.

by **kakakiw** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:44 pm

Just found this.
http://themountainworld.blogspot.com/2009/12/lacelle-avalanche-scene-video-analysis.html

by **CBakwin** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 4:21 pm

Thanks Kakakiw, what a freak and tragic accident. Hopefully something can be learned from this.

by b. » Sun Dec 13, 2009 8:38 pm

knoback wrote:What route was this?

The Climbs above the Dribbles. The lower route is Silken Falls.

by **Guyzo** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 4:53 pm

Sad...

RIP.

by **Diego Sahagún** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:15 am

http://www.desnivel.com/object.php?o=19373 (in Spanish)

by **climbxclimb** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:47 am

This is the analysis of the avalanche which killed Guy Lacelle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1yaiLI5LXc

Guy Lacelle died killed by an avalanche in Montana

Guy Lacelle died killed by an avalanche in Montana

This video shows what happened to Guy Lacelle

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