A YOUNG Brit has been found dead at the foot of a cliff at a popular ski resort in the French Alps.
The lifeless body of the 23-year-old, who has not been publicly named, was found on Monday morning in Avoriaz, which sits on a shelf above the town of Morzine.
GettyThe Avoriaz ski area. Stock picture[/caption]
A local police spokesman told The Sun: “The deceased is an English national who is thought to have been skiing on Sunday evening. His family have been informed.”
It’s understood the man had been skiing with pals on Sunday before partying at popular apres ski spot La Folie Douce in Avoriaz.
It’s thought he then decided to ski down the mountainside alone and got lost.
Friends raised the alarm when he didn’t return to his accommodation.
Search and rescue teams scoured the area for the Brit before discovering his body the following day.
Police believe he may have taken a wrong turn, realised he was in trouble and took his skis off before plunging to his death.
The body of the victim was initially evacuated by helicopter, before being declared dead by emergency workers.
Local prosecutors and judicial police have opened an inquiry “to determine the cause of death,” said the source.
The body is thought to have been taken to Chamonix to begin with, where the corpse was identified by next-of-kin.
The death happened in a notorious blackspot for skiers in the French Alps.
Accidents are common around the cliff on which Avoriaz sits, especially when the light starts to fade in the evening, or when there is mist around, and skiers drift off the piste.
In 2018, a 13-year-old boy lost his life in the same area, after falling 80 metres from the cliff.
He was found at the bottom of the drop, with his badly injured 10-year-old brother beside him.
Both had been out skiing, and got lost in the late afternoon, before plunging off the cliff.
In March last year a 68-year-old British skier died after a violent collision with a tree at Avoriaz.
The skier had left the Covagnes piste and hit a tree at high speed after swerving to avoid hitting a group of skiers blocking the way.
Avoriaz is situated in the heart of the Portes du Soleil ski area, one of the largest cross-border ski domains in the world, connecting 12 resorts between France and Switzerland.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in France and are in contact with the local authorities.”
A British skier was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Avoriaz