Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, tragically died in a mountain accident on June 1.
The skiing community is in mourning after professional skier Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, tragically died in a mountain accident on June 1.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation confirmed the devastating news that Pession, 28, and Arlian, 27, suffered a nearly 2,300-foot fall while hiking Mount Zerbion in Italy's Aosta Valley region.
The couple's bodies were discovered buried in the snow hours after their families reported them missing when they failed to return from their hike. Rescuers faced an arduous search, with the Italian outlet RAI reporting, "It took hours and hours of flying over to locate them: there were no traces on the rock to suggest where they had fallen."
Ultimately, search crews were able to lock onto a cell phone signal to pinpoint the couple's location. "They were almost at the summit, just a step away, when suddenly they were betrayed by the mountain they loved so much," RAI reported in a video on X (formerly Twitter) and translated by People. "When they were found, they were still tied together, like in a final embrace."
The Italian Winter Sports Federation paid tribute to the accomplished Pession, who placed 15th in the 2021 World Cup finals and 22nd at the 2022 World Championships. Federation President Flavio Roda stated: "A terrible tragedy strikes the world of winter sports...Two young lives broken by an accident in the mountains, that mountain which was their passion."
The federation extended condolences to the families and the entire skiing community mourning this immense loss. As one rescue worker solemnly put it, the couple was "betrayed by the mountain they loved so much."
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