Two British skiers killed in avalanche at French Alps resort are named
Two British skiers who died in an avalanche at a resort in the French Alps have been pictured for the first time.
Stuart Leslie, 46, and Shaun Overy, 51, were among three people killed after being swept away in a snow slide at Val d’Isere, a village in southeast France, at the weekend.
A French person skiing alone above their group also died, while a third British skier escaped with minor injuries after digging himself out of the snow.
The deaths followed a rare, day-long red alert across the southeastern Savoie region on Thursday – a danger level issued only twice before since the system was introduced 25 years ago.
The warning prompted several resorts to close all or part of their pistes.
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A spokesperson for the resort’s slope management department said the British skiers were in a group of five people and a professional instructor who did not see the danger as it approached.
An inquiry has now been launched into the disaster.
Both Brits appeared to be regular skiers, The Telegraph reports
Mr Leslie frequently posted on social media about his love of off-piste skiing.
One from December 2023 is captioned: ‘We are in our own world with not a single person in sight, fresh soft untracked powder and blue sky.’
Another from a year later reads: ‘Exploring the Alps with my ski team… No need to go on the piste ever again…’
Craig Hunter, a friend of Mr Leslie, said in a tribute that he lived life to the ‘absolute maximum’ and ‘squeezed everything out of every moment’.
A photograph Mr Overy posted on Facebook in 2016 shows him with a group of friends in Tignes, a ski resort several miles from Val d’Isère.
The foreign office confirmed the deaths on Friday.
An FCDO Spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of an accident in which two British men have died in France.
‘We are in contact with the local authorities and stand ready to offer consular assistance.’
There have now been at least 25 avalanche deaths in France this winter season, with the majority occurring since January.
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