Mont Blanc. Mountain gendarmes said the avalanche appeared to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up the slopes. Photograph: Patrick Gardin/AP France Mont Blanc avalanche kills British woman, 54, and son, 22, in French Alps Two were part of group skiing off-piste with instructor when avalanche occurred Kim Willsher in Paris Fri 29 Dec 2023 17.53 GMT A British woman and her son are reported to have died in the French Alps after an avalanche in the Mont Blanc mountain range. The two were part of a group reportedly skiing far outside the designated slopes with an instructor when the avalanche, measuring 400 metres wide, occurred at an altitude of 2,300 metres near the ski resort of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains in the Haute-Savoie on Wednesday. The 54-year-old woman and her 22-year-old son had been skiing with other family members, according to the Bonneville public prosecutor’s office. Mountain gendarmes said the avalanche appeared to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up the slopes. A third skier, the instructor, was also buried but was wearing an avalanche detector and was quickly found. He was said to have sustained light injuries. Five other people escaped, including the husband and father of the deceased. Mountain police said an inquiry had been opened to establish the circumstances of the deaths. The victims have not been named. Jean-Luc Boch, the president of the Association of Mountain Station Mayors, said there was no such thing as risk-free, off-piste skiing. “Zero risk doesn’t exist off-piste,” he told FrenchInfo. “There is a risk and that risk exists even if you are accompanied by professionals, by guides, by ski instructors … there is always a risk weighing over you. Never forget that in the mountains security is the most important thing and you have to be extremely careful. Mountains, like the sea, are always stronger than us.” In another accident, a 31-year-old walker who left a track to “see some chamois [a goat-antelope]” died after falling 500 metres in the Écrins range at Isère near Grenoble.