Victim missed ‘ beyond words’
A grieving husband will miss his wife – killed in an avalanche in northern Italy – ‘‘beyond words’’.
Former Otago woman Katherine Clarke was one of four skiers buried in snow near the resort of Courmayeur, on Sunday afternoon.
The 39-year-old New Zealander was working as a corporate lawyer with Barclays Bank in London.
Jim Clarke-Sullivan, who also worked at the bank, said in a statement ‘‘words cannot describe the loss we feel after Sunday’s accident’’.
‘‘Katherine was amazing mother who loved our daughter, Isla, very deeply and was completely devoted to her.’’
The couple, who had been together for 14 years, were to celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary this week.
Clarke-Sullivan, who is from Dunedin, said he had many stories to tell to his daughter about her mum, who was ‘‘always brave, always calm, bright and
happy’’. She was an experienced back country skier, and was the first New Zealand woman to have climbed and skied the three highest peaks of Greenland.
Clarke was always meticulous and careful in everything she did, her husband said, and although she was killed in a tragic accident, it was doing something that she loved.
‘‘She also loved her career and was very close to her team, many of whom were friends and were with her in the Alps. She will be missed beyond words.’’
Among the four dead was her legal colleague Matt Ziegler, a married father of two.
The bank was supporting both families after the tragedy, which had left colleagues devastated, a spokesman said.
On Sunday, two Italian skiers were killed by avalanches – one in the Valle d’Aosta region, the other in the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) region.
Authorities had warned that avalanche danger was high in the Italian Alps over the weekend.