British climber dies after being 'swept away' by avalanche in the French Alps

A British climber was killed in an avalanche while on holiday in the French Alps.

Alison Jane Dawson, 45, was hiking up the a mountain range in the snow-blanketed region with her partner and a local tour guide on January 14 when an avalanche rocked the area.

Ms Dawson, an endocrinologist from Ilkley in Yorkshire, was "swept away" when the mass of snow broke loose and tore away the mountainside.

An inquest into her death at Shirehall in Shrewsbury today reported that first responders pronounced her dead when they found her.

Her cause of death was listed as asphyxiation due to complete submersion in an avalanche. avs shirt