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Top Swedish skier killed in Chile avalanche

Oliver Gee
Oliver Gee - [email protected]
Top Swedish skier killed in Chile avalanche
Andreas Fransson, left. Photo: Markus Alatalo

UPDATED: The bodies of two of the world's top skiers, Sweden's Andreas Fransson and JP Auclair from Canada, were found on Tuesday after they were reported missing in an avalanche in the Andes.

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Fransson, 31, and Auclair, 37, were swept away by the avalanche on Monday while climbing Monte San Lorenzo, a peak on the border of Chile and Argentina, local Chilean Emergency Office (ONEMI) officials said.
   
The skiers were working on a documentary in the Cochrane area with two other Swedes who were not injured in the avalanche, the officials said.
   
While the men reportedly tried to call for help by satellite phone, searchers were unable to locate their extremely remote location.
   
Later, their bodies were found at over 3,700 meters.
 

The Andes in Chile. Photo: Shutterstock
 
Fransson, who referred to himself on Twitter as a "professional skier, writer, philosopher, guide and adventurer", hailed from the north of Sweden and lived in France's Chamonix.
 
Just days before his death, he posted a Facebook message to his tens of thousands of fans.
 
"Our Patagonia adventure just started!" he wrote, adding that he was looking forward to two weeks in the wild and that his followers "probably won't hear much from us in a while". 
 
Sara Skogsberg-Cuadas, spokesperson for one of his former sponsors, outdoor equipment company Haglöfs, told The Local: "He was a very great man and he will be hugely missed by all of us."

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