Professional skier Jean Daniel Pession, 28, and his girlfriend, ski instructor Elisa Arlian, 26, were found dead on Saturday after falling off a mountain in northern Italy, authorities said.
After hiking to the top of Mount Zerbion, the couple allegedly fell 2300 feet from the summit, according to RAI News.
Authorities were not able to locate the couple immediately, but after hours of searching, they were discovered, still together, by their cell phone signals. They were “just a step away” from the summit and were found “still tied together, like in a final embrace,” RAI reported.
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“A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports and speed skiing in particular,” the Italian Winter Sports Federation wrote in a statement about the couple’s death.
“Two young lives broken by an accident in the mountains, that mountain which was their passion,” the federation’s president, Flavio Roda, added 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 finished 15th in the 2021 Speed Skiing World Cup and 22nd at the 2022 Speed Skiing World Cup, according to Snowbrains.
