The couple fell nearly 2,300 feet before snow buried them, according to Italy’s national public broadcasting company
Professional skier Jean Daniel Pession and his girlfriend, Elisa Arlian, have died “in a tragic mountain accident” in northern Italy, the Italian Winter Sports Federation confirmed in a statement on Saturday, June 1.
The couple fell nearly 2,300 feet off of Mount Zerbion in Aosta Valley, Italy, according to RAI, the country’s national public broadcasting company.
RAI added that the Italian World Cup skier, 28, and Arlian, 27, who were both ski instructors, “fell into the void” before being buried by snow.
“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, tweeted by the official Tg3 account. “When they were found, they were still tied together, like in a final embrace.”
A signal from one of their cell phones helped rescuers locate their “lifeless” bodies hours after they had been reported missing, RAI noted.
“They had set out early in the morning to reach a peak both knew well,” according to an English translation of an RAI news story. “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.”
Many people in the region have expressed their condolences to the couple’s families, including Aosta Valley President Renzo Testolin and Italian Winter Sports Federation President Flavio Roda.
“Two young lives cut short by a mountain accident, that mountain which was their passion,” Aosta Valley’s Regional Council President Alberto Bertin said, according to RAI. “In this moment of deep sadness, we express our closeness to the families, friends, and the entire sports community, embracing them with affection and compassion.”
Meanwhile, the Italian Winter Sports Federation concluded its statement with, “Roda and the entire Federation express their condolences to [their families] for this tragic misfortune.”
