Professional skier Jean Daniel Pession, 28, and his girlfriend, ski instructor Elisa Arlian, 26, were discovered dead on Saturday after falling off a mountain in northern Italy, authorities said.
According to RAI News, the pair allegedly plummeted 2300 feet from Mount Zerbion’s summit after hiking there.
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Authorities were unable to locate the pair right away, but after hours of searching, they were identified, still together, by their cell phone signals. They were “just a step away” from the peak and were discovered “still tied together, like in a final embrace,” RAI reported.
“A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports, and speed skiing in particular,” the Italian Winter Sports Federation said in a statement after the couple died.
“Two young lives were shattered by an accident in the mountains, the mountain that was their passion,” the federation’s president, Flavio Roda, said in a statement. “In this moment of profound sadness, we express our closeness to the families, friends and the entire sporting community, holding us close to them with affection and compassion.”
Pession placed 15th in the 2021 Speed Skiing World Cup and 22nd in the 2022 Speed Skiing World Cup, according to Snowbrains.
