British mother and son killed in Mont Blanc avalanche in French Alps 

Kate Vokes, 54, and her 22-year-old son Archie were found dead under snow by mountain rescuers in the French Alps on Thursday. 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

The family of a mother and son killed in a French Alps avalanche have told how they are “beyond heartbroken”.

Kate Vokes, the 54-year-old scion of one of Britain’s most successful property development businesses, and her son Archie, 22, were hit by the avalanche as it swept down an off-piste part of the Saint-Gervais-les-Bains resort near Mont Blanc on Thursday.

A family spokesman 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.”

Mrs Vokes was the daughter of Michael Oglesby, a property tycoon who died in 2019 having set up a business described as the “driving force in the resurgence of Manchester and Liverpool”.

He had created the Bruntwood group in 1976, which owns a fifth of Manchester’s commercial office space, including 120 buildings in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham accounting for nearly nine million sq ft and valued at more than £1 billion.

His daughter and her son had been skiing with three other members of their family and a freelance ski instructor, whom they were understood to have known for a number of years, when the avalanche struck near Chamonix.

The other family members were understood to include Mrs Voke’s husband, Philip, who survived but was said to have witnessed the avalanche hitting his wife and son.

All of the skiers on the slopes were said to be experienced and out at a time when the avalanche risk was classified as “remote”.

No one in the family was wearing an avalanche transceiver, which emits a signal that can be detected if buried in snow.

Thirty rescuers accompanied by two dogs, a medical support team and two helicopters spent five hours scouring the area before they discovered the mother and son’s bodies.

Another skier, reportedly the instructor, was left injured. A hiker was killed in a separate area after the avalanche.

The avalanche may have been caused by cross-country skiers traversing further up the slopes, the Bonneville public prosecutor’s office said at the time.

Police have launched an investigation over possible manslaughter charges following claims two cross-country skiers skiing above the mother and son could have triggered the avalanche.

Mrs Vokes had a long history of supporting the arts and youth projects in the North West of England. She was the chairman of trustees of The Oglesby Charitable Trust, a Manchester-based organisation set up by her late father. The trust donates around £3.5 million a year to help to create “thriving communities”.

The family has said in a statement: "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."

The statement adds: "Kate was chair 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 Focussed Care.

"Archie was a personal trainer at Form in Manchester and in the previous year had achieved his level 1 ski instructor qualification in Canada."

Officials have said they believe the avalanche may have been triggered by two ski tourers who were uphill from Kate and Archie Vokes.

A manslaughter investigation has been opened and the cause of the avalanche is being investigated.

The mother and son had been skiing with three other family members and a freelance ski instructor, whom they had known for several years, the Bonneville Public Prosecutor's Office said on Friday.