News has reached us that Serre Chevalier based climber and extreme skier Jean-Noël Urban has died climbing on Gasherbrum I in Pakistan. The accident occured on the 18th of June at 5am. Jean-Noël was descending from Camp 2 to Base Camp when a snow bridge gave way.
The crevasse is of such a size that his climbing partner, Nicolas Brun, believes there is little hope of finding his body despite helicopter assistance. Last year Urban skied 8125 meter Nanga Parbat by the Kinshofer route. He had to abandon an attempt to ski Everest’s Norton couloir after reaching the summit due to the conditions. Brun and Urban were preparing for a ski descent from the summit.
49 year old Urban was born in Marseille but has lived near Serre Chevalier for the last 30 years. He had over a hundred routes in the 50 to 60° range as well as 8000 meter peaks Cho Oyu and Gasherbrum 2. Sponspored by Salewa and Dynafit France he was a key part of their adventure skiing programme and will no doubt be sorely missed by both family, friends ans sponsors. Locals in Serre Chevalier were stunned by the news.
http://www.expeditions-urban.com/
http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/13/
Another sad event .... it’s turning out to be a grim Summer.
My friends at Dynafit France have been very enthusiastic about Jean-Noël and Nicolas Brun’s expeditions whenever I’ve stopped by and they will be devastated by this news, as will his family and friends.