Dads raising cash for hospice among British victims of avalanche

TWO of the British men killed in an avalanche in the French Alps were dads raising cash for a local hospice.

The Foreign Office today named the pair as Steve Barber and John Taylor.

Mr Barber, 47, and Mr Taylor, 48, lived in the same street in Upper Poppleton, a village to the north-west of York.

They both had children at the local school.

The third British man who lost his life after being hit by a massive wall of snow yesterday was Roger Payne, one of the UK’s most respected climbers and former general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council.

A total of nine climbers were killed as they traversed Mont Maudit in the Mont Blanc range near Chamonix. Among the other victims were three Germans, two Spaniards and one Swiss climber. They were part of a 28-strong group which left a climbing hut to attempt the route, described by local guides as the second most popular to the top of Mont Blanc, in the early hours of yesterday morning.

A church service is to be held in Chamonix tomorrow afternoon in memory of the dead climbers.

All those believed to have been missing have been accounted for.

Two other Britons – including climber Dave Compton, 41, from Ellesmere Port – reported missing following the avalanche were confirmed safe and well after presenting themselves to police in Chamonix yesterday evening.