This is a really sad loss to the Canadian climbing community. Guy was an inspiration to many and achieved things that most of us would never think possible. The climbing community has lost a hugely inspirational figure and an icon whose achievements and style will leave an impact that will last for a very long time. Such a sad day to lose such an accomplished climber who was so unassuming and accepting of others, no matter their level of ability. You will be missed immensely Guy.
Here is the press story:
The Associated Press
Date: Friday Dec. 11, 2009 8:27 AM ET
BOZEMAN, Mon. — World-class ice climber Guy Lacelle died Thursday when an avalanche swept him off a mountain in southwestern Montana. The Canadian was climbing a gully when a team above him triggered a small avalanche, said Doug Chabot, director of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.
"A small pocket of snow pulled out and caught him," Chabot told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. "It hit him and took him off the cliff, down the ice."
More than 20 rescuers responded to Hyalite Canyon to retrieve the body. Deputy Chief Coroner Dan Springer said the 54-year-old Lacelle died from the fall.
Lacelle, a tree planter by trade, was the first to solo link the extreme ice routes the Terminator/Sea of Vapors and the Replicant in fivehours, Weeping Pillar and Polar Circus in a day, French Maid, Curtain Call, La Pomme D’or in Quebec, and lastly Hydnefossen in Norway. Notably, La Pomme D'or is a 1,000-foot WI 5, with sustained sections of vertical ice and a thin crux. The remote route is a serious undertaking even for a roped team. Lacelle's solo, though mindblowing for most people was typical for him. He was known for several notable ice ascents and won the Ice Competition in Ouray, Colorado, in 2000 and 2001, as well as the Festiglace Competition in Quebec in 2004.
John Irvine, the sports marketing manager for the climbing equipment company Arc'teryx, called Lacelle a "fanatical ice climber" and said his death is a "huge, huge loss."
Irvine said Lacelle was a foreman for a tree planting company in British Columbia during the summer and took the winters off to ice climb.
The Hawkesbury, Ontario, native started climbing while earning a physical education degree at the University of Ottawa in the 1970s. The Banff Centre for Mountain Culture said he later led Outward Bound classes and taught at the Yamnuska Mountain School in Canmore, Alberta.
Lacelle is survived by his wife Marge Lachecki.
