The family of the mother and son killed in a devastating avalanche in the French Alps have said they are “beyond heartbroken” at the loss.
Kate and Archie Vokes, 54 and 22, were said to be experienced skiers but passed away after an avalanche swept through an off-piste section of the Saint-Gervais-les-Bains resort on December 28.
In a statement, their 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.”
Reports say that the two were experienced skiers, familiar with the terrain on which they were skiing that day.
Manchester-based Ms Vokes was chairwoman 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 Focused Care.
Mr Vokes worked as a personal trainer in Manchester and was a qualified ski instructor, receiving a Level 1 qualification in Canada in 2022.
Five others accompanied the pair and survived the 400-metre-long avalanche, which hit Mont Blanc at 3.30pm on 28th December. Their party included the family’s private ski instructor who sustained minor injuries.
It has been reported that this instructor was the only person in the group wearing an avalanche beacon, used to detect those buried in the snow.
However, Guy Le Nevé – second-in-command of the Chamonix mountain search team – said that no member of the group was wearing an emergency beacon.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: “Initially it was reported that the instructor had a locator beacon but that is incorrect, neither he nor the family involved were wearing one.
Two other people were also caught up in the avalanche further up and it was one of them who was wearing the locator. That’s how we found them first.”
He went on: “This is an area reserved for very good skiers. This is a group who had known the instructor very well for many years and who regularly came to ski in the area. ”
“We believe the avalanche was caused by two cross country skiers above the group. An avalanche expert has visited the scene and will provide a report for the prosecutor but it will take a few weeks. We are looking for witnesses and will try and identify the cross country skiers but it will be up to the prosecutor to bring any charges.”
French police have opened a manslaughter investigation after suspicions that the avalanche was caused by two other skiers in the off-piste slopes.
This sequence of events is common after skiing disasters in France.
A spokesperson from the Foreign Office commented on the tragedy and said: “We are supporting the family of two British people who died in France and are in contact with the local authorities.”
