World Cup skier Jean Daniel Pession, 28, and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, 26, have died after falling off a mountain in northern Italy.
The couple hiked to the top of Mount Zerbion and most likely fell about 2300 feet from the summit per reports by RAI, The Italian broadcasting service.
According to reports by RAI, the couple were both ski instructors and they first “fell into the void” and then were covered by the snow.
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It took the authorities many hours of searching before they found the couple. They were found through their cell service signals. The couple was still together, close to the summit. RAI described the couple as “still tied together, like in a final embrace.”
Per a translated story in People, the couple had started the hike early in the morning. This is a peak the couple were extremely familiar with. “When their families didn’t see them return, they called the emergency center, which immediately activated the helicopters. … When the technicians lowered themselves with the winch, they found them still tied together.”
“A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports and speed skiing in particular,” the Italian Winter Sports Federation wrote in a statement on its website, per translated copy into English. “Jean Daniel Pession, a twenty-eight-year-old member of the World Cup team, lost his life in a tragic mountain accident that occurred above Champoluc (Ao). His girlfriend also died together with Pession.”
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“President Flavio Roda and the entire Federation express their condolences to Pession family for this tragic misfortune,” the statement concluded.
Pession placed 15th in the 2021 Speed Skiing World Cup and 22nd at the 2022 Speed Skiing World Cup in France.
Rest In Peace.
