His death Thursday morning was confirmed by John Irvine, the sports marketing manager for Arc'teryx, a company that makes ice climbing equipment and which sponsors Lacelle and the Bozeman Ice Festival. Irvine said he learned of Lacelle's death from a festival organizer.
Irvine called Lacelle a "fanatical ice climber" and called his death is a "huge, huge loss."
"He loves climbing and he loves sharing the sport with other people," Irvine said. "That's what his life was all about."
Irvine says Lacelle was a foreman for a tree planting company in British Columbia during the summer and took the winters off to ice climb.
I would presume he died doing what he loved. Personally I think an ice ax to the femoral would be far better than an avalanche. My thoughts are with his loved ones.