Bodies of charity climbers who died in Alps avalanche to be flown back to UK

Steve Barber and John Taylor died early on Thursday last week when a group of mountaineers were hit by a wall of snow as they traversed a peak known as Cursed Mountain.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed yesterday that the bodies of the two men, who lived in the same street in the village of Upper Poppleton, near York, are due to be repatriated today. It is understood a flight will leave this afternoon before the bodies are expected back at an undisclosed location in the UK this evening.

A police spokesman said: “Once the bodies have been repatriated, a report will be prepared for the Coroner in York before an inquest is held. A date has yet to be set for the hearing.”

Mr Barber and Mr Taylor, who both had children at Poppleton Ousebank Primary School, had been making the climb in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice in York.

A third British man who lost his life after being caught in the avalanche was Roger Payne, one of the UK’s most respected climbers and the former general secretary of the British Mountaineering Council (BMC).

In all, nine climbers were killed as they traversed the mountain in the Mont Blanc range near Chamonix early on Thursday. The other victims were three Germans, two Spaniards and one Swiss climber.

Mr Barber, 47, a company finance accountant who worked for a Leeds-based firm, was attempting to climb Mont Blanc for the first time. He had lived in Poppleton for most of his life, and his parents ran the village Post Office before retiring several years ago. He leaves behind a long-term partner, Donna Rogers, a 10-year-old daughter, Francesca, his parents and sister Julie.

Mr Taylor, 48, who was originally from Manchester, moved to Upper Poppleton in 2003 and was a finance director in both the public and private sectors.

As well as his wife Karine, he leaves daughters Emma, 10, and eight-year-old Louise. He had climbed Mont Blanc on two previous occasions after taking up mountaineering in 1998.

Grieving relatives of the dead men paid emotional tributes to them on Friday as well as the mountain rescue teams and emergency services for their efforts.