British mother and son who died in avalanche on French Alps named as family pay tribute
The British mother and son who died in an avalanche on the French Alps have been named.
Kate Vokes, 54, and her son Archie Vokes, 22, from Manchester, lost their lives on Thursday (28 December) after the avalanche swept through an off-piste section of the resort of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains near Mont Blanc.
They could not be rescued despite a five-hour search and rescue effort deployed on the day, involving 20 rescuers, two dog teams, a doctor and two helicopters.
A hiker was also killed in a separate area, as another skier, reportedly an instructor, was left injured.
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A spokesperson from the Haute-Savoie regional government previously said: "An avalanche 400m long occurred this Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 3.30pm, in the off-piste area, at an altitude of 2,300 meters and near the Mont-Joly chairlift located in the Mont-Joly ski area. Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, involving eight people.
"A major search and rescue system was immediately deployed by the emergency services. slopes of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, reinforced and commanded by the high-level gendarmerie platoon mountain (PGHM) of Chamonix.
"The final report shows two victims dead, one lightly injured and five other people unhurt.
"Yves Le Breton, prefect of Haute-Savoie would like to send his sincere condolences to the loved ones of the victims and his thoughts to those involved in this avalanche.
"He also thanks all the personnel who made it possible to carry out the search operations."
Ms Vokes worked multiple roles as a director of their family-owned property company Bruntwood, deputy chair of the Royal Exchange Theatre, a chair of the Oglesby Charitable Trust and a trustee of charities Shared Health and Focused Care.
Mr Vokes was a personal trainer at Form in Manchester, with a level 1 ski instructor qualification in Canada.
A family spokesperson 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.”
Alexandre Merlin, director of the Saint Gervais led Bains ski area, told MailOnline: "The snow conditions are very unstable, it's difficult to know what will hold or not, the snow cover is not compacted and it is rather dangerous to go out.
"Overall, you shouldn't go off the slopes, we have little snow, the slopes are well maintained, but outside, there are stones, and there can be unstable areas."
Saint-Gervais Mayor Jean-Marc Peillex told BFM television: "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."
Anish Vij