Andreas Fransson and JP Auclair killed by avalanche in Patagonia

On 29/09/2014 Swedish skier Andreas Fransson and Canadian skier JP Auclair were killed by an avalanche on Monte San Lorenzo in Patagonia, on the border between Chile and Argentina. Both were considered two of the world's premier skiers.
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The skiers Andreas Fransson and JP Auclair
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Tragedy in Patagonia: on Monday afternoon the extreme skiers Andreas Fransson and JP Auclair died in an avalanche on Monte San Lorenzo, also known as Monte Cochrane. According to the local newspaper BioBio, the two were caught by an avalanche and swept away for circa 700m while two other members of the group, the Swedes Bjarne Salen and Daniel Ronnbak, were not involved in the accident.

37-year-old Auclair, born in Quebec, was a highly talented free skier, considered one of the best skiers in Canada. Famous also for his interpretation of urban skiiing -immortalised in the film All.I.Can - Auclair's talent didn't go unnoticed and last year he was one of the nominees for the prestigious Adventurers of the Year accolade, promoted by National Geographic.

Fransson was recognised as one of the best extreme skiers in the world. A superb alpinist, strong and fast, in 2011 he managed to make the bold first ski descent of the South Face of Denali, a feat that crowned a short but extraordinary trip to Alaska. But what made him world famous was his capacity to see beyond, to identify and attempt lines hitherto deemed impossible or not even thought about. His descent of the Whillans Ramp on Aguja Poincenot in Patagonia in 2012 is a case in point, a descent he himself defined as the very limit of what he was capable of. A charismatic, leading light in the Chamonix scene (his second home), Fransson's loss is a terrible blow to the mountaineering community in general and in particular to the close-knit Swedish scene which in November 2013 had to deal with the death of his close friend, 32-year-old Magnus Kastengren.

Andreas Fransson, Aguja Poincenot, Patagonia



JP Auclair - All.I.Can




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