Pictured: The British skier killed by avalanche in Val d'Isere who died 'doing ... - Daily Mail

By Peter Allen
Last updated at 6:28 PM on 12th January 2011

A British airline pilot who was killed in a massive avalanche in the French Alps died doing what he loved, his girlfriend said today, as the first pictures of him were released.

James Whalley, a 32-year-old easyJet captain based at Gatwick Airport, was in a group of seven who were hit by a massive wall of ice and snow in Val d'Isere on Tuesday morning.

Four people - Captain Whalley, a Swedish man, and couple from Lyon, eastern France - were covered by a 300 ft wide torrent, along with a fifth man who survived.

Tragic: easyJet pilot James Whalley with his beauty queen girlfriend Holly Hill at the easyJet ball before Christmas

Today, his devastated girlfriend Holly Hill, 23, said the couple had been in touch the night before he died, and she had been planning to travel to France to be with him.

Ms Hill said: 'He told me he loved me and was going to bed early. He loved skiing, and always said if he had to go he wished it would be something like this.'

Mr Whalley died alongside Peter Anderson, a 55-year-old Swede, and a French couple aged 62 and 59.

Mr Whalley has a home in Val d'Isere and had travelled there on January 4 for two months before driving back to the UK with Ms Hill.

Avalanche: Holly Hills said the couple had spoken the night before Captain Whalley died

Ms Hill said: 'He always took guides and the right precautions. He'd been in the gym preparing for the trip, this was out of the ordinary.

'He was very independent and was into extreme sports. He had so many ambitions - he wanted to climb Everest.'

Mr Whalley originally came from Guernsey and had moved from his home near Gatwick to Hove, to be near Ms Hill. His parents Dave and Sue left their home in Guernsey today to catch a plane to France.

The group was being led by 48-year-old instructor Didier Moreau, an off-piste specialist with the Top Ski school based in the resort, which is hugely popular with British holidaymakers.

Tragedy: The black arrow shows where the avalanche swept up the group of skiers close to ointe du Grand Vallon on Monday close to the village of Le Fornet, just up the valley from Val D'Isere

Mr Moreau and his wife were said to have watched members of the group begin their way down a 1500 ft descent before disaster stuck.

A source in Val d'Isere said : 'Didier could only watch helplessly as the avalanche picked up speed, and then buried his pupils.

'He called the emergency services immediately using a long-range radio, and both he and his wife started trying to dig the victims out of the snow.

'One survived, miraculously, but the others died from their wounds under the snow. Their hearts simply stopped beating under the sheer weight of snow.'

Both Mr and Mrs Moreau are understood to have been undergoing counselling since the disaster happened at around 11 am on Tuesday.

They have been interviewed by the mountain gendarmerie as a 'matter of course', said the source, but are unlikely to face charges.

'Top Ski makes it quite clear that avalanches can and do happen - there is next to nothing anyone can do when a giant avalanche like this happens.'

Popular: The resort of Val d'Isere in the French Alps is popular with British holidaymakers

Director of Top Ski Jean Marc Kaufman said: 'There are four people dead. It's very serious. I have had the opportunity to speak to Didier and he is also speaking to the police. We are all in shock.'

Friends and colleagues of Captain Whalley paid tribute to him today.

Maija Hirvimies, who met Capt Whalley on his first day at easyJet, said: 'James was such a lovely guy. He was always so positive and full of life, and he loved Holly too.

'Everyone was always teasing them how their children would be the best looking kids in the world as they were the most stunning couple.

'Losing him at such a young age is a tragic loss. He was much respected and much loved.'

Cabin crew member Rachel Allen-Moran said: 'Everyone liked him. He was a kind, considerate and fun loving captain, cut down in his prime.'

A spokeswoman for EasyJet said: 'We were shocked and saddened to hear of the untimely death of Captain James Whalley. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and easyJet colleagues at this difficult time.'

Top Ski was founded in 1976 and specialises in off-piste, adventure skiing.

They charge between 65 and 85 euros for a day's off-piste skiing with an instuctor. Most of their guides, including Mr Moreau, speak English and welcome hundreds of British skiers every season.

Top Ski sales literature clearly states that 'the competence and experience of Top Ski mountain professionals allows us to manage the danger and considerably reduce the danger'.

All the pupils, including Captain Whalley, were carrying avalanche transceivers, a type of radio equipment used to track skiers. It emits a pulse signal which can be picked up by a search transceiver.

Inflatable bags designed to lift avalanche victims above the snow are available to Top Ski pupils for hire, but are not compulsory. Only one member of the party of seven was thought to be wearing one.

The first person was dug out after around 15 minutes, with two rescue helicopters and four doctors arriving within half-an-hour.

However, the maximum life expectancy for anyone impacted by snow is around 15 minutes, meaning nothing could be done for the victims.

Meteo France had categorised the avalanche risk as 'rising to three' on a scale of five on Tuesday - meaning it was 'considerable' during the course of the day. But it also warned of old weak layers of snow above 2,200 metres, or 7,200 feet.

The skiers were in an area known as Pont St Charles, a popular off-piste sector at around an altitude of 8,800 feet, where there had been fresh dumps of overnight snow.

A spokesman for the mountain rescue said: 'It was a very, very big avalanche. We don't yet know what set it off. We have launched an investigation.

'It is possible that the group of seven skiers could have set the avalanche off. If one person had been skiing perhaps there would have not been an avalanche.

'The first rescuer was there within a few minutes. And there were four doctors at the scene. But the four skiers were all pronounced dead on the slope. One of them was equipped with an Avalanche Airbag but it had not inflated.

'All of the skiers were wearing avalanche transceivers so they were found fairly quickly.

'Of the seven skiers, two managed to stay on top of the snow and one woman was partly buried, just her legs. But she had no serious injuries. The four people who died were all buried completely.We are in the process of trying to contact families.'

The Briton is the third Brit to die this season in the French Alps.

David Robinson, 67, was killed after being trapped in an avalanche in Val d'Isere on Boxing Day.

He had been skiing with his wife Christine and friends, including an experienced guide.

And John Atkinson, a father-of-two, was killed after he smashed into a rock in the resort of Les Deux Alpes before Christmas.

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