JP Auclair and Andreas Fransson are being confirmed dead in an avalanche in Chile by the National Office of Emergency of the Interior Ministry of Chile. They had been missing since Monday afternoon before they were found lifeless this afternoon by Chilean police forces.

They went missing while climbing, skiing, and filming on 12,159-foot Mt. San Lorenzo (2nd highest peak in Patagonia) near the city of Cochrane in the Aysen area. This is a remote area in Chilean Patagonia (far south Chile).

The avalanche reportedly swept them 2,300-feet down the mountain when it hit. Two other skiers were with the JP and Andreas when the avalanche occurred. It’s unclear if they were in the avalanche or not at this point, but they survived.

This team of skiers arrived at Balmaceda, Chile on the 26th of September. On the 27th, they began climbing 12,159-foot Mt. San Lorenzo on the Chilean-Argentine border.

The two bodies were found by Chilean police using helicopters. Chilean police forces reached the bodies today and confirmed that they were both without life.

JP Auclair was a sensational professional freeskier from Canada, part of the original Canadian Air Force, co-inventor of the twin tip ski, and co-founder of Armada skis.

Andreas Fransson was a famous ski mountaineer from Sweden who is the only person to have ever skied the South Face of Denali, Alaska.

Mt. San Lorenzo Information:

Monte San Lorenzo, also known as Monte Cochrane, is a mountain on the border between Argentina and Chile inPatagonia, reaching a height of 3,706 metres (12,159 ft).[4] The Chilean name of Cochrane comes from the nearby town of Cochrane where climbers often approach the mountain. The peak was first climbed by Alberto María de Agostini in 1943. The mountain is covered by three large glaciers (two in Argentina and one in Chile). The Argentine glaciers show clear evidence of retreat. – wikipedia

JP and Andreas will both be sorely missed by the skiing community. Our condolences to the entire skiing world.