Father ‘died during frantic search for son who tumbled down Alpine cliff’

The bodies of Peter Saunders, 48, and son Charlie, 12, were found by rescue services near Mont Blanc on Sunday morning.

Mr Saunders had called for help at about 2pm local time on Saturday after Charlie fell down a cliff on a mountain trail in the Chamonix valley.

Police said the pair, reportedly from Buckinghamshire, had set off without snowshoes to explore a “dangerous, deep, snowy” mountain trail between Bossons and Les Houches when they died. Charlie fell from about 300 metres (984ft), while his father plunged 200 (656ft), reports said.

Captain Patrice Ribes, a French police officer, said emergency services had unsuccessfully tried to trace Mr Saunders’s mobile phone call and launched a helicopter rescue.

“We think the father tried to find his son after he called us and asked for rescue. We believe he fell as he tried to find his son. Their bodies were found together this morning at 7.40am,” he said.

Capt Ribes said the pair were wearing walking shoes suitable for the summer, which were wrong for the conditions, The Times reported.

“You need shoes with spikes at this time of year,” he said. “In normal shoes, it is difficult to stop once you start slipping. That slope is like a giant slide.”

Emergency services in Annecy said they received a frantic call from Mr Saunders saying his son had fallen and he could not see him, the Daily Telegraph said.

“The man spoke in English and said he was in Les Bossons in the commune of Les Houches and that his son had fallen,” spokesman Francis Bianchi said.

“The call was immediately transferred to the mountain police in Chamonix. They could hear him and he was panicked.

“He did not reply to their questions. And then it cut off.” They kept trying to call him back but it went straight through to an answering service.

Richard Mansfield, a British mountain guide who has worked in the area for 20 years and lives near the Bossons glacier, said trails on the north side of the valley were “covered in snow”.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, their family said: “Charlie was always full of life, had a really happy temperament and loved spending time with his father. Peter was fantastic at making things happen, resourceful, with a positive approach to life.

“They will both be sorely missed by friends and family alike.”