It appears Andreas Fransson and J.P. Auclair were caught and died in an avalanche on Monday, September 29th, 2014 in the Auyen mountain region of Patagonia near the border of Argentina and Chile. The avalanche occurred on Mounte San Lorenzo (12, 159′), reportedly running 700 meters (2300′).
Mount Cochrane (12,159′)
According to a Chilean media reports (BioBio and Publimetro), the two were climbing the mountain to determine conditions. They were there to film a new webisode series that, according to Fransson’s Facebook page, he termed Apogee skiing. The avalanche occurred while they were climbing a couloir.
Team members Bjarne Salen and Daniel Ronnbak, both Swedes, witnessed the event. An emergency call via satellite phone was placed on Monday afternoon that was relayed from Argentinian to Chilean authorities about the avalanche .
Mounte San Lorenzo, also known as, Monte Cochrane is in the Auyen region, a remote area more than 15 hours by horseback from the city of Cochrane.
Andreas Fransson, from Sweden, was the reigning king of extreme skiing. Stories on his skiing accomplishments and profiles appeared in recent years in Outside, Powder, and Backcountry Magazines.
JP Auclair was a Canadian free-style skier who influenced “new school” skiing and helped Salomon with the development of the 1080 twin-tip ski.
There are old climbers and bold climbers, but no old bold climbers.
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© 2014
1 comment
The “old bold climbers” cliche is unnecessary and in poor taste considering you know nothing of the events that led to this tragedy…