Two career skiers tragically died after falling thousands of feet down a mountain in northern Italy. Jean Daniel Pession, a 27-year-old World Cup competitor and member of the Italian national speed skiing team, along with his girlfriend Elisa Arlian, fell from a spot near the summit of Monte Zerbion in the Alps. They were traversing a familiar route when the accident occurred.
It took recovery crews several hours to find the couple, who were still linked together by a safety rope mountaineers often use while climbing. The circumstances that led to their deadly fall were unclear, as both Pession and Arlian fell almost 2,300 feet from Monte Zerbion.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation expressed deep sorrow over the tragic accident, noting Pession’s impressive performance record at the World Cup. Local government officials in Aosta Valley, where the mountain is located and where Pession is from, mourned their deaths and offered condolences to the families of the couple.
President Flavio Roda and the entire Federation extended their sympathies to the Pession family in a statement. The Regional Council of the Aosta Valley also acknowledged Pession and Arlian’s deaths, describing it as a moment of profound sadness.