Photo courtesy ARC'TERYX / Brian Goldstone

Last thursday afternoon, a friend whom I was about to visit in Bozeman for the onset of the Bozeman Ice Festival, forwarded me this link:

World-class ice climber Lacelle dies in Hyalite Canyon avalanche

As it turned out, Guy Lacelle, the world-renowned Quebecois with crazy hair and a penchant to climb 1000+ ft. frozen waterfalls without belay, had been tragically swept over a 200ft. frozen waterfall by a small avalanche while hiking. To the non-climber, Lacelle's accomplishments are almost incomprehensible; to the experienced climber, they still remain shrouded in dumbfounded awe.

Lacelle was one of my original ice heroes. When first I learned how to ice climb in New Hampshire and attended Festiglace Ice Festival in Quebec, Lacelle immediately stood out. I remember watching him climb the crumbling over-hanging schist of Pont Rouge with ease and familiarity, as if a watching a champion marathoner casually jog through his favorite local park. Later, I was more amazed when the smiling and graying 50-year-old won the over-all competition by a landslide against the younger guys who had come out.

For me, the sadness lies within the fact that Guy was taken away by a such an inexplicable, unremarkable accident: an avalanche that wouldn't even knock over many skiers, took this man's life.

Attending his memorial service a day later at in Bozeman, his partner that fateful morning—Adam Knoff—gave a moving and impromptu address to the audience. Adam, who had just met Guy hours before he triggered the avalanche that would take Guy's life, courageously took the stage and appealed to the undying essence of climbing. To the crowd of climbers who had gathered, he spoke directly to the first-time climbers, whom, as he said, "may be reconsidering if climbing is for them." To those people, Adam spoke to the allure, adventure, community and deeply personal benefits that climbing has brought to his life and Guy's. And although tragedy can strike in the least likely of circumstances, that the enrichment of the pursuit is ultimately worth the risk.

Mountain Guide, Doug Chabot, follows up on the avalanche that took Guy's life: