Two British skiers who died in an avalanche in the French Alps have been named as Stuart Leslie, 46, and Shaun Overy, 51. The pair were part of a group of five, accompanied by an instructor, skiing off-piste in Val d’Isère on Friday when they were swept away by falling snow.
A French national skiing alone was also killed, while another British skier survived. France’s national weather service had issued a red alert for avalanche risk on Thursday, only the third such warning in 25 years.
Leslie, who regularly posted about his skiing adventures on social media, is believed to have been friends with Overy, who ran a plumbing company in Wimbledon. Paying tribute, friend Craig Hunter said: “We have lost a true legend – our beautiful Stuart. He lived life to the absolute maximum.”
Benoît Bachelet, the Albertville prosecutor, said a manslaughter investigation had been launched. The ski instructor, who was uninjured, tested negative for drugs. The incident follows the death of another British skier in an avalanche at La Plagne in January, and comes amid high avalanche risk across the western Alps.
