Two British skiers who tragically lost their lives in an avalanche at the Val d’Isère ski resort in France have been identified and their photos released.
The victims, Stuart Leslie, aged 46, and 51-year-old Shaun Overy, were part of a quartet skiing off-piste in the Manchet Valley when the avalanche occurred around 11:30 a.m. on Friday.
The avalanche swept them several hundred meters down the mountainside, ultimately carrying them into a stream at the base of the slope. Rescuers later found their bodies in the area.
A French skier, who was navigating the slopes solo at a higher altitude, also perished in the incident. Meanwhile, a third British skier managed to survive with only minor injuries, reportedly by digging himself out of the snow.
Stuart Leslie, who held the position of sales and marketing director at the Barratt Redrow construction company, was known for his off-piste skiing expertise and often shared his skiing adventures on social media.
In a post from December 2023, he reflected on his love for skiing, writing, “We are in our own world with not a single person in sight, fresh soft untracked powder and blue sky.”
Another post from December 2024 read: ‘Exploring the Alps with my ski team… No need to go on the piste ever again…’
Friends said he was never happier than when skiing. Paying tribute, Craig Hunter wrote: ‘I take comfort in believing he is with Anna [Anastasia] now — his one true love. In that belief, I find the only peace I can in such a profound loss.
Stuart Leslie, 46, was described as an experienced off-piste skier who frequently documented his adventures online
Shaun Overy, 51, who ran a plumbing business in Wimbledon, south-west London, was also a seasoned skier
‘When we skied together, he was at his happiest. He always said there was no better feeling in life, skiing fresh powder was pure freedom.’
Mr Leslie’s wife, Anastasia, is understood to have died in 2017.
Mr Overy, who ran a plumbing business in Wimbledon, south-west London, was also a seasoned skier.
Social media photographs showed him on previous trips to Tignes, just a few miles from Val d’Isère, and on the slopes with his wife Francesca and their daughter.
Francesca was the co-director of their plumbing firm.
Friday’s tragedy unfolded less than 24 hours after the Savoie region was placed on a rare red avalanche alert – a warning level issued only twice before in the 25 years since its introduction.
Although the alert had been lifted by Friday morning, the risk remained at four out of five – officially ‘high’ – with avalanches ‘easily triggered by skiers or hikers’ and capable of mobilising ‘very large volumes of snow’.
Skiers are warned against going off-piste when the avalanche danger level is above tier three.
Storm Nils had blanketed the area with up to a metre of fresh snowfall, leaving what Météo-France described as a ‘very unstable snow cover’.
Several resorts, including La Plagne, Les Arcs, Peisey-Vallandry, and La Grave, were forced to close.
The group had been skiing under the supervision of an instructor, who was unhurt. Alcohol and drug tests were negative.
A manslaughter investigation has been launched by the CRS Alpes mountain rescue police, as is routine in fatal mountain accidents, under the direction of Albertville prosecutor Benoît Bachelet.
The avalanche in Val d’Isere swept away six skiers in an off-piste area of the slopes, killing one French national and the two Britons, as red alerts were issued across the Alps
Cédric Bonnevie, Val d’Isère’s piste director, said the avalanche tore down the slope for 400 metres before ending in a stream.
He said the cause remains unknown, though French media suggested it may have been triggered by the solo skier above the group.
Rescuers located two of the victims within 15 minutes, as they were equipped with avalanche transceivers.
But finding the third body proved more challenging when it emerged that the device was submerged underwater and no longer functioning.
Dogs and probes were deployed before the body was recovered hours later.
Mr Bonnevie told The Telegraph: ‘This is always a sad situation. Three people in the same avalanche is so tragic.’
The majority of fatal winter sports accidents in France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy occur off-piste rather than on secured runs.
Avalanches account for around half of those deaths, with France averaging about 25 fatalities each winter.
This season alone, there have been at least 25 avalanche deaths across the country.
