Deaths of Brit mum and son wiped out by avalanche leave family 'beyond heartbroken'

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The family of a British son and mum killed in a skiing accident have paid tribute to the pair and say they are "beyond heartbroken".

Kate Vokes, 54, and her son Archie Vokes, 22, were both killed by an avalanche when they were swept up by the snow at a French ski resort on Thursday, December 28. The pair had been out skiing when the avalanche went through the off-piste area.

A statement from the Vokes family has paid tribute to the duo killed in the "tragic accident" which may have been caused by skiers higher up the mountain, The Mirror reported.

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Their loved ones have since said they are "beyond heartbroken" by the deaths, which were confirmed when a rescue operation was launched to find missing skiers.

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Six skiers were found alongside the bodies of Kate and Archie, with one injured person among the survivors.

In the statement, the family said: "We are beyond heartbroken at the loss of our beloved, wonderful Kate and Archie. Words cannot express how terrible we all feel nor the hole in our lives that has been left by this tragic accident. We kindly ask for privacy as we grieve together as a family.

"Kate was chair of the Oglesby Charitable Trust, a director of their family-owned property company Bruntwood, deputy chair of the Royal Exchange Theatre and a trustee of charities Shared Health and Focussed Care. Archie was a personal trainer at Form in Manchester and in the previous year had achieved his level 1 ski instructor qualification in Canada."

Investigators at the time confirmed they had been searching for eight missing persons after the avalanche. They said: "They were surprised by an avalanche around Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, while off-piste. They were in a group of eight people, made up of a ski instructor and his students, when they were hit at a height of around 2300metres.

"Three out of the eight skiers were buried in the snow, and a search party was mobilised very quickly, after an emergency alarm. The instructor was detected and pulled out, but the man and woman who were buried perished, following a far more complex and long search. The initial theory is that another party of skiers higher up triggered the avalanche."

Weather conditions had made it difficult to launch and continue the search, with Saint-Gervais Mayor Jean-Marc Peillex saying: "It rained, it snowed, it was warm. There are enough marked paths to ski on. It's terrible what happened. A family is decimated, and we are very sad in Saint-Gervais."

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