Rockin’ the ice: Ice climbers to pursue passion in remembrance of Guy Lacelle
It was an unfortunate accident, something that could have happened to anyone on that brilliant morning in Hyalite Canyon.
The slide occurred on the first day of the Bozeman Ice Festival during the Hyalite Ice Breaker – a climbing competition that had attracted some of the world’s most experienced climbers. Guy Lacelle, a highly-regarded climber from Prince George, British Columbia, was swept to his death by an avalanche in a small ravine not far from Grotto Falls.
Lacelle’s death shocked and saddened those in the tight-knit climbing community assembled that day. That sadness spread as news of his death circulated around the world.
But it was with renewed vigor and a shared sense of admiration for Lacelle and his life that the festival carried on.
“It was really difficult,” festival organizer Joe Josephson of Livingston recalled recently. “Guy was one of my mentors and one of my oldest friends. We really questioned what we were going to do.
“Marge Lacheki, his wife, she called and we talked. She wanted the festival to keep going. She said it is what Guy would have wanted. She really gave us the strength to carry on.”
This year’s Bozeman Ice Festival will be held from Dec. 8-12 with the memory of Lacelle and his passion for ice climbing at the fore. A retrospect of Lacelle’s life will be shown on Dec. 10 in the short film “La Vie de Guy Lacelle” compiled by filmmaker Chris Alstrin of Colorado Springs, Colo.
“I will remember Guy by continuing to have a good time on the ice,” Alstrin said, “and by being safe out there as well, because Guy was a very safe climber. I will remember him in that way – by continuing to do what you love.”
Alstrin’s film will show at the Emerson Cultural Center at 7:30 p.m., along with a slideshow, “From Frying Pan to the Fire,” by Adam Knoff of Bozeman.
Knoff’s slideshow will focus on his recent climbing expedition to Pakistan where he and his partner attempted the “Magic Line” – one of the most aesthetic routes among the world’s 8,000-meter peaks.
Knoff climbed with Lacelle that fateful day in Hyalite Canyon and said the emotion of the tragedy remains powerful.
“It is difficult because I have been climbing in Hyalite the last few days and had some pretty horrible flashbacks,” Knoff said on Monday. “It is going to take a step back to put it in perspective.
“I only knew Guy for 15 hours,” Knoff said of his pairing with Lacelle for last year’s Hyalite Ice Breaker competition. “Unfortunately, the most tragic result came upon us as two climbing partners. He was a remarkable man.”
Alstrin’s film and Knoff’s slideshow will show for free in honor of Lacelle.
This year’s festival will not include the Hyalite Ice Breaker competition. Josephson said a consensus opinion that the competition presented too many unforeseen risks made it impossible for festival organizers, the Forest Service and insurers to endorse the event this year.
“We just decided that with the potential for avalanches, as we discovered, it was just too much to take on,” Josephson said. “You can’t control that risk when you are out there. People fall, avalanches happen.”
That said, there is talk of a different kind of ice-climbing competition coming to future festivals. Josephson said he envisions a more traditional competition – similar to those at The Ouray Ice Festival held in Ouray, Colo. – that could be held in a more controlled environment than the steep terrain of Hyalite Canyon. Such a festival could be held on ice in town and open to spectators.
This year’s festival will include revamped climbing clinics, which have steadily grown in scale and interest over the years. Josephson said the clinics, which range from women’s-specific climbing instruction to steep-ice and mixed-climbing disciplines – have been rethought to cater to specific experience levels, interest and styles.
And with recent sub-zero temperatures, ice should be plentiful for the week’s events.
“It is one of the best starts to the season in years,” Josephson said. “There is lots of ice and people are climbing all over the canyon right now. This cold weather really helped the ice form up in the last few days.”
Other attractions at this year’s festival include a rock climbing film focused on the Cirque of the Unclimbables in the Northwest Territories by Emily Stifler, gear demos and get-togethers at the Pour House Bar and Grill.
For more information about the Bozeman Ice Festival, or to sign up for a climbing clinic, visit www.montanaalpineguides.com/bozemanicefestival.
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