THE family of a snowboarder killed in an avalanche told how they have found comfort in a postcard he sent days before his death.

James Rourke, 26, of Westway, Wick, Littlehampton, was swept more than 2,500ft in a torrent of ice, snow and rock down the notorious Grande Motte mountain at Tignes.

He was with friend Sam Harber, 25, from Suffolk, whose body has not yet been found due to treacherous conditions.

James's last card to his family arrived at their home in Wick just days before the tragedy.

His father, Peter, said the card's words "Too much to do and not enough time" were a fitting tribute to his son. He said: "My son was always happy. He always wanted to travel and experience more of life.

"He liked the challenge and liked to push the envelope that bit further.

"James was a total free spirit. We would get text messages from him on the top of mountains. He was always arranging the next adventure. He was like a ray of sunshine."

Both James and Sam had scaled the Grande Motte weeks earlier to raise £18,000 for tsunami victims in South-East Asia. They were working for chalet tour operator Snowline VIP in the ski resort of Val d'Isere.

The avalanche, caused by a deadly combination of high winds and new snow, broke two weeks ago 300ft above the pair at a height of about 10,500ft.

Mr Rourke, 51, a security guard, and his wife Anne, 48, travelled to Tignes, climbing up the mountain as far as they could to be near the spot where their son was killed.

The couple travelled the world watching their son compete in downhill mountain biking championships as a teenager.

Mr Rourke said it was this that sparked James's passion for extreme sports.

James would travel the world in between working as a lifeguard and surf instructor in Newquay.

Mr Rourke said: "James had a network of friends throughout the world. We are getting hundreds of tributes from them."

The family plan to celebrate James's life at a beach party in his honour in Newquay on his birthday on August 13.

James's friends will surf out into the sea where they will release his ashes.

The keen photographer was born in Crawley and moved to Hampshire with his parents, attending Arnewood School in New Milton before moving back to Sussex.