**UPDATED** British snowboarder falls to his death on the Valley Blanche

A 32 year old British man (despite French reports that the victim was American) from Leeds died on Sunday after falling 25m into a crevasse on the infamous Vallee Blanche off piste itinerary in the Chamonix valley.

The man has been now been named as Phil Tate, an investment director at Leeds-based private equity house Endless LLP.

It is understood the victim had set out in the morning with his fiancee and two other friends to do the Vallee Blanche with a guide. Around the 2600m level, known locally as the 'Salle a Manger', it is thought he had become separated from his group and found he had dropped to low.

To try and regain the main tracks, he took his board off and started walking back up. It is thought he walked over a fragile snow bridge which gave way into a crevasse. The 25m fall killed the snowboarder and covered him in blocks of ice, snow and stones making the recovery of the body particularly difficult for the PGHM. The body was recovered about 18:30.

No details on how or if the client was indeed separated from his guide have been confirmed.