Snow victim's last note

When James Rourke wrote a postcard home to his parents last week he ended it with words that spoke volumes about his exuberance and love of life: "So much to do and not enough time."

A few days later he was dead, killed with his close friend Sam Harber by an avalanche.

James's father Peter today paid tribute to his son's sense of adventure, a spirit that led him to embrace each new experience wholeheartedly.

"That last postcard home summed him up," said Mr Rourke. "He had so much potential but at least he lived life to the maximum. He packed more into his 26 years than most people do in a lifetime."

James and Sam, 25, who had been working for Wandsworth holiday firm Snowline VIP, were caught by a "slab" avalanche - caused by high winds and new snow - as they rode snowboards on the Grande Motte glacier near Val d'Isè²¥ in the French Alps.

The avalanche, 500metres wide and

1.5metres deep, broke 100metres above them at a level of around 3,200metres.

The alarm was raised at about 4pm last Thursday but it was too late. A team of 30 rescuers fought in atrocious conditions and uncovered James's body but the search for Sam has been hampered by further falls.

One rescuer said: "They were swept away in a deep torrent of ice, snow and rock. The force was so great that one of their anoraks containing an avalanche beacon was ripped in two and disappeared under 10 metres of snow."

The tragedy was given added poignancy when it emerged that both young men made an ascent of the same glacier in January in aid of tsunami relief. Sam had spent three weeks in a Sri Lankan hospital last summer with an infected wound and was convinced that all the staff who had cared for him had been wiped out by the giant waves.

The friends had worn T-shirts bearing the words Tsunami Disaster Hike.

"That was typical of James," said Mr Rourke, 51, a security guard from Littlehampton, West Sussex. "He was a very caring, very happy person who brought a lot of sunshine into people's lives. James was a free spirit. He just wanted to experience as much of life as possible. He spent all the time he could arranging the next adventure."

Mr Rourke and his wife Anne were told about the tragedy last Friday. The couple immediately travelled to Tignes, climbing as far up the mountain as they could to be near the spot where James and Sam lost their lives. There they met Sam's parents and they grieved together.

The Rourkes are now planning their son's funeral. Mr Rourke said: "So many people want to come. James had so many friends around the world."